“You never know what’s going to happen” Daria Kasatkina sends a cryptic warning to Iga Swiatek ahead of their semi-final clash in the French Open
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Iga Swiatek and Daria Kasatkina
World No. 20 Daria Kasatkina has qualified for her first-ever Grand Slam semi-final with a straight-set win over compatriot Veronika Kudermetova winning the quarter-final clash 6-4, 7-6(5) at the 2022 French Open. The win was Daria’s fifth consecutive straight-set victory and the Russian player makes it to final-4 without dropping a single set.
As a result of her quarter-final win, she will now take on World No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals of the tournament. With Swiatek currently on a 33-match winning streak and into her second French Open semi-final in three years, the semi-final promises to be a thrilling encounter between the two players. This will be the fifth meeting between the two and the fourth of the season.
The first-ever meeting was won by Daria at the 2021 Eastbourne International in 3-sets played on grass courts before Swiatek won all three meetings of the season not losing a single set during the process. Iga and Daria clashed in the 2022 Australian Open‘s third round, the first round of the 2022 Dubai Tennis Championships and the third round of the 2022 Qatar Open, all three played on hardcourts.
“I know that tomorrow, it’s another mountain in front of me that I have to climb and that’s it. I have no time to relax, I’m playing already tomorrow. Maybe it’s even better that I don’t have much time to think about how good it is to be in the semi-finals – I have another battle tomorrow.
“We played a few times this year. Okay, I lost those matches, but it was a different story. It was a hard court, beginning of the year, I was not in the same shape as I am now. It’s going to be a completely different match. I want to win a lot, she wants to win as well, and it’s going to be a good match. You never know what’s going to happen in the semi-final of a Grand Slam,” said Kasatkina during her press conference after her win over Kudermetova.
Daria Kasatkina can break into the Top-10 with a win over Iga Swiatek
Ranked 20th prior to the start of the French Open, Kasatkina with her run to the semi-finals is guaranteed to rise to World No. 12 but she can improve it if she wins the clash with Swiatek. The win over Swiatek will see the Russian player rise to World No. 8.
A title in Paris will take her to World No. 6, 31 points off entering the Top-5. Kasatkina‘s current highest ranking has been World No. 10 which she achieved in October 2018 and with her run in French Open, she moves closer to achieving a new career-high.
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Sarthak Shitole
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