Russian rising star Daria Kasatkina lost to Naomi Osaka in straight sets in the Indian Wells final, but she has reached her career-high of number 11 after a dream week in which she beat four Grand Slam champions. Venus Williams, Angelique Kerber, Caroline Wozniacki and Sloane Stephens en route to the title match. Naomi Osaka also moved up in the WTA Rankings, rising from world number 44 to number 22 after her maiden WTA Premier Mandatory title. For the first time since 2001 two young players under the age of 21 played in the Indian Wells final.
“Naomi was much better than me today. She really deserved to win. I think we were both nervous at the beginning because of the biggest finals so far. During the match she was able to manage her nerves and stuff, and I was still a bit tight during the match”, said Kasatkina.
Kasatkina was born on 7th May 1997 in Tolyatti. Her father Sergey works at the Volga Automobile Plant, and her mother is a housewife. She started playing tennis at the age of six and won the Junior Fed Cup in 2013, when Russia beat Australia in the final. Daria started her professional career in 2013 and one year later she won her first Grand Slam Junior title at the French Open beating Ivana Jorovic in the final. She made her senior Grand Slam debut in the main draw as a lucky loser at the 2015 US Open after Maria Sharapova withdrew due to injury problems. She beat Daria Gavrilova and Ana Konjuh to reach the third round, before losing to Kristina Mladenovic. Later that year she beat her first career doubles title at the Moscow Kremlin Cup with Elena Vesnina.
Kasatkina has been inspired by Rafael Nadal since she started playing tennis.
“I watched all his matches on television, when she won the French Open in 2005. I just fell in love with his playing style and his character. I have always been inspired by him. I love everything about him, how he plays and how he behaves. For me he is the perfect example to be as a sportsman. When I watch him, he plays with a lot of spin. I was trying to play the same”, revealed Kasatkina.
Kasatkina made her first major breakthrough in January 2016 when she beat defending champion Venus Williams at the ASB Classic in Auckland, but lost in the third round at the Australian Open to Serena Williams. In the following weeks Daria made her debut in the Fed Cup winning the dead doubles match with Ekaterina Makarova. She went on to reach the semifinals in St. Petersburg before losing to Belinda Bencic. She reached her first Premier Mandatory quarter final in Indian Wells, before losing to Karolina Pliskova in straight sets. During the 2016 summer she reached the third round at Wimbledon, losing to Venus Williams in three sets and reached her second Premier quarter final at the Rogers Cup, before losing to Angelique Kerber. She qualified for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, where she lost to Madison Keys in the quarter finals of the singles tournament and reached the quarter finals in the doubles with her teammate Svetlana Kuznetsova.
She beat Angelique Kerber in Sydney in January 2017 to reach the quarter finals. She beat the German player for the second time in the second round of the Qatar Open before losing to Olympic champion Monica Puig in the quarter finals. She claimed her maiden WTA title in Charleston beating Jelena Ostapenko in the final.
Kasatkina started the 2018 season with two first-round defeats against Kaia Kanepi in Brisbane and Barbora Strycova in Sydney. She was beaten by Magda Linette in the second round at the Australian Open. She beat Melbourne champion Caroline Wozniacki in St. Petersburg before losing to defending champion Kristina Mladenovic in the semifinal.
Kasatkina beat Katerina Siniakova in Indian Wells to become Russia’s new world number 1 player overtaking Svetlana Kuznetsova, who was the top player from that country for 85 weeks since May 2016. Kasatkina beat 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens in straight sets to score her fourth win against a reigning Grand Slam champion after beating Jelena Ostapenko at the 2017 US Open, Caroline Wozniacki in St. Petersburg 2018 and Garbine Muguruza in Dubai. At Indian Wells Kasatkina beat Sloane Stephens, 2018 Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki for the second time and another former Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber in straight sets in the quarter finals. In the semifinal Kasatkina beat Venus Williams in three sets to score her fourth straight win over a Grand Slam champion in one week.
During the post-match press conference the 20-year-old Russian player revealed the biggest dream of her career.
“My tennis dream ? I have already answered these questions 500 times. I wish to win four Grand Slams and the Olympic Games in one year.”
Kasatkina has already beaten a top 2 player five times before turning 21 (Caroline Wozniacki and Angelique Kerber twice and Simona Halep once). Despite the defeat in the final Kasatkina was proud of her achievement.
“I was holding this level of game at the same level, like almost all the matches. I beat very good players. In the right moments I was doing the right decisions, so it means I am growing as a player. So this is the most important thing for me”.
