Kasatkina ends Raducanu run in Eastbourne to reach semi-finals
Daria Kasatkina beat Emma Raducanu 6-2, 6-2 in the quarter-finals and will face Jasmine Paolini in the last four
Daria Kasatkina, Eastbourne, 2024 Action Plus / Panoramic
Daria Kasatkina outclassed home hope Emma Raducanu 6-2, 6-2 to return to the semi-finals of the Rothesay International and end British interest in the women’s singles event.
After her excellent comeback to defeat Jessica Pegula yesterday and earn her first win over a top-10 player, Raducanu was understandably somewhat subdued today.
That match was a marathon encounter on the hottest day of the year in the UK, and the after-effects of such a physically bruising contest was evident today in a scrappier affair during which neither player displayed their best tennis.
Windy conditions on the south coast added to the difficulties, but Kasatkina was great value for her win. The Russian dealt with the challenging conditions better than her opponent, with her natural variety helping her to improvise her way through difficult rallies without leaking many unforced errors.
Kasatkina broke in the third and fifth games of the opening set as she saw out a comfortable one-set lead. But Raducanu also showed flashes of the resilience that has led to a highly productive grass-court campaign thus far, particularly when she saved four break and set points en route to holding serve in the seventh game.
But she was unable to make any significant inroads into the Kasatkina serve in the opening stanza, as the world No 14 took her sixth set point to move ahead.
There was a brief respite for Raducanu when she broke back in the second game of the second set, having dropped serve again in the opening game. But Kasatkina hit straight back before holding serve in a lengthy fourth game. She then earned her fifth break of the match to move into a commanding 4-1 lead as Raducanu’s resistance began to wear increasingly thin.
One final break for the Briton in the sixth game was again not enough to gain a foothold in the match as she failed to consolidate for the second time, with Kasatkina duly serving out the match at 5-2 to earn a valuable win in tricky conditions.
encouraging week for raducanu, paolini up next for kasatkina
Despite a disappointing scoreline today, Raducanu can and should take heart from another very promising showing at a grass-court tournament as Wimbledon beckons.
For Kasatkina, anything less than the title this year will perhaps be viewed as a disappointment given her prowess on these courts.
The Russian returns to the semi-finals at Eastbourne, having made the final here this time last year. Her variety as well as her aptitude for sliced drop shots lends itself well to the lusher, lower-bouncing courts of the Devonshire Park Lawn Club.
She will take on one of the WTA’s most in-form players Jasmine Paolini in the last four, after the Italian dispatched British No 1 Katie Boulter earlier in the day to complete a clean sweep of exits for British players in the women’s singles.
“I have an Italian coach, so he’s going to tell me I hope,” Kasatkina said when asked how she intended to play against Paolini.
“She’s having a great season. She’s playing amazing, she’s on fire. But I’m also not too bad, so I think it’s going to be a good match tomorrow.”
