19-year-old Daria Kasatkina has won her first title on the WTA Tour after easing her way past a lacklustre Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-1, in the final of the Volvo Open in Charleston.
The hotly anticipated clash between the two promised a lot. Both players are rising stars of the women’s game, who have previously won junior grand slam titles. Kasatkina had already defeated world No.1 Angelique Kerber twice this season. Meanwhile, Ostapenko had scored impressive wins over Caroline Wozniacki and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni earlier in the week. Despite the promise, it failed to deliver with the consistent Kasatkina being helped towards the title by her rival’s array of unforced errors.
Participating in the first all-teenager final on the WTA Tour since the 2009 Linz Open, Kasatkina encountered a tricky start. A smooth break in the fifth game of the match placed the Russian in control before a marathon six-deuce game followed with Ostapenko breaking back for 3-3. Still Kasatkina was the one in control. Throughout the opening set she benefitted from her opponent’s high unforced error tally of 19. The patchy play from the Latvian cost her dearly. Kasatkina sealed a three-game winning streak with the help of a quick forehand return to take a 6-3 lead.
The implosion of Ostapenko’s game continued into the second set with the errors mounting. A nightmare service game concluded with a double fault to allow the Russian to break to love for a set and 3-1 lead. The closeness between the two had eroded with Kasatkina remaining composed as Ostapenko Struggled to generate any rhythm in her game. Slamming a forehand cross-court winner at the net, she extended her lead for a chance to serve for the match. Kasatkina grabbed her first match point, thanks to a sluggish Ostapenko forehand into the net. Glory was then secured following another error from her rival.
Few could dispute how much the title meant for the world No.42, who burst into tears seconds after her win as she paid tribute to her team.
.@DKasatkina fights back the tears during champion’s speech #VolvoCarOpen pic.twitter.com/g5SW68mjMD
— WTA (@WTA) 9 April 2017
Kaskatkina’s heartfelt speech during the trophy ceremony was a sharp contrast to that of Ostapenko, who failed to congratulate the Russian on her win. Visibly bemused by her performance, the Latvian described her performance as ‘one of her worst matches.’
“I’m not very pleased with how I played today, it was actually one of my worst matches here (in Charleston).” Said Ostapenko.
“It was a great event and I really enjoyed it here. Hopefully next time I can play better here.” She later added.
The comments soon drew criticism from world No.14 Elena Vesnina, who took to Twitter moments after.
What a speech @DKasatkina 😭😘Can’t say the same about her opponent😶
— Elena Vesnina (@EVesnina001) 9 April 2017
At the age of 19, Kasatkina is the youngest player to win a Premier title since Belinda Bencic at the 2015 Toronto Open. She will now rise up to 29th in the rankings, just five places below her career best.
