In the “thousand” of Cincinnati, prior to the US Open, in the second round, the draw brought together the Russian tennis player Daria Kasatkina and our former compatriot Varvara Gracheva, who recently received French citizenship.
This season, Kasatkina plays with Varvara without any success. Both matches were lost without much of a chance for Daria. Especially offensive was the crushing defeat of Gracheva at the Australian Open in the first round of the tournament (1:6, 1:6). Significantly, now the second racket from Russia (Lyudmila Samsonova recently became the first), she experienced the biggest problems in the game with hard Varvara.
The next meeting between Kasatkina and Gracheva on the American court started very hard for the Russian tennis player. Even though Daria didn’t break her serve, at the same time, she had to win back as many break points in the first six games, indicating how difficult it was for our girl to keep her serve.
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But closer to the middle of the first set, the Russian woman picked up the keys to the game from the newly formed Frenchwoman and herself took the opponent’s serve. Realizing that the game from the left on Gracheva’s backhand is downright lame, Daria began to charge the balls in the same trajectory. Barbara, no matter how hard she tried, couldn’t turn the tide of the first set, allowing one set after another without forcing herself. As a result, swearing somewhere into the void, Gracheva left the game, losing three games in a row. 6:3
At the beginning of the second set, Daria Kasatkina continued to play boldly. The Russian woman won her submissions handily, and then it was time for breaks. Dasha left her difficult opponent no chance at her service, making a strong bid for the overall victory in the match, which initially seemed to be more stubborn. It seems that Dasha has not forgotten the Australian slap. In the second set, there was a feeling that Kasatkina wants not only to win, but also to tear Grachev to pieces.
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As a result, Gracheva managed to avoid the “flyer”, but the total score indicated that Varvara could not have had a chance with such a game of Kasatkina. 6:3, 6:1. Pleased with Daria’s excellent form ahead of the last of four Grand Slam tournaments. Considering how difficult the current season is for the world number 13 racket, a successful performance in the “thousand” will be like a breath of fresh air and an excellent warm-up before future achievements.
