Top 5 WTA matches in 2018: No.2, Kasatkina upsets Venus in Indian Wells
Daria Kasatkina showed what the future of the WTA could look like as she upset Venus Williams 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a nearly three-hour baseline struggle to reach the Indian Wells final. "We are coming very soon,'' Kasatkina said, smiling, as she celebrated the first Premier Mandatory event since 2009 Indian Wells to feature two under 21 semifinalists. She and Naomi Osaka, the lowest-ranked Indian Wells semi-finalist since Kim Clijsters in 2005, met in the title match as the Japanese routed top-ranked Simona Halep and followed it winning her maiden tour-level title. Her acceptance speech became one of the most revealing and surreal moments of the season.
Kasatkina, who became the sixth Russian woman to reach the Indian Wells final, and Williams came to the match tied 1-1 in the head to head series although the American had won the last encounter 10-8 in the final set at 2016 Wimbledon. The Russian, who beat three Top 20 players at the same tournament for the first time, won 79.4% of her service games to move to her first semifinal in the tournament, the most of any player left in the tournament and upon her season average of 65.2%. After the first-round bye, Kasatkina benefited from Siniakova retirement with a right thigh injury and beat No.13 Stephens, No.2 Wozniacki before serving No.10 Kerber her first 6-0 since 2017 Tokyo to make her first semifinal at a Premier Mandatory.
Kasatkina went 3-1 up in the first set but Williams rallied to win the first set. “It was pretty cold, so the ball was not flying that well” she explained in the post-match press conference. “So I was using more slice from the backhand and was trying to put it a little bit, not spinning so much the ball. You know, the conditions were like this, so I had to get used to it, for sure.”
After losing the first set, the Russian was visited by her coach on court. Philippe Dehaes, whose on-court coachings often turned into instant classics throughout the season, assured her. “She's 37, you're 20. Make her work a lot,” he suggested. Williams, in fact, was the oldest semifinal ever in the tournament's history. Making her seventh appearance at Indian Wells, and third since 2001 after an absence of 15 years, she matched her best results here, having reached the last four in both 1998 (l. eventual champion Hingis) and 2001 when she gave walkover to her sister Serena who controversially announced her decision to boycott the tournament because something that changed her life had happened during the final.
Indian Wells remains a special place for Venus, who claimed her maiden top-10 win, over No.9 Majoli, en route to the quarterfinals in 1997. After the first-round bye, she defeated Cirstea in straight sets and her sister Serena in the third round in what was their 29th career meeting. That win was her first over Serena, who leads the head to head 17-12, since 2014 Montréal. Then, she beat No.20 Sevastova in the round 16, celebrating her first top-20 victory in Indian Wells since beating No.11 Dementieva in 2001. Venus followed it with the sixth career win over No.27 Suárez Navarro.
Looking to reach her 74th career final, Williams trailed 3-1 again in the second and tied it 3-all when Kasatkina was broken on a double fault. The players duelled through eight deuces in an epic eighth game, with Kasatkina turning back six break points before Williams pulled a forehand wide to lose the game. The Russian recovered from 2-4 to 6-4 to force a decider. “The crowd were unbelievable. And to play Venus Williams on centre court in the United States, in the semifinals, one of the biggest tournaments, you just put your heart there, and that's it” she said after the match.
Kasatkina's coach visited her again before the third set. "You go for it?'' he asked her. "Sure,'' replied the Russian who fooled Williams with a couple of clean drop shots during the match.
Kasatkina was two points from defeat, trailing 4-5 and 0-30 in the third set. “It was the toughest moment of the match. I didn't feel nervous, even when I didn't put her serve in. I knew what to do. So it was the most important part of the match, I guess” she admitted. The Russian managed to salvage her cold blood in that turning point of the match because “we are always unhappy. We are strong mentally. So this is our individual part”. Sociology and national character could not be enough, however, to produce such a thrilling finale. "In one moment you just catch yourself, like, you're in the night session, all crowd, you're playing against a legend, and you are in the third set,'' Kasatkina said. "You're just staying on the return, and you're like, 'Come on, maybe it's the moment of your life.'''
Williams, who had 45 winners, 15 more than Kasatkina, committed four straight errors as the 20-year-old Russian tied it all at 5-5. The American won just two more points as Kasatkina took the last two games to close out the match in 2 hours, 48 minutes. “I really just make too many errors. That's pretty much all -- I mean, I have to stop making that many errors against her,” Williams had to admit. “I pretty much come to win tournaments, so if I don't win, I'm not happy. I'm not here for results and all that stuff. Anyone who gets used to losses should give up on life.''
Maybe, Kasatkina concluded, it was “one of the best nights in my life, for sure. Yeah, it was pretty emotional”.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2BWpXut
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