Heading into the US Open Daria Kasatkina finds herself as one of the most successful players on the Tour this season in terms of matches won.
The Russian world No.9 has registered 37 victories so far in 2022 with only three other women managing to win more matches than her on the WTA Tour. Ahead of her is Ons Jabeur (38), Simona Halep (39) and Iga Swiatek (48). Kasatkina is also one of eight players to have won multiple titles in 2022 with her most recent triumph occurring on Saturday at the Granby Championships where she beat Daria Saville 6-4, 6-4, in the final.
Invariably there have also been blips for Kasatkina on the Tour. Between winning titles in San Jose and Granby this summer, she lost her opening match at two tournaments. Falling to Bianca Andreescu at the Canadian Open and then Amanda Anisimova in Cincinnati.
Besides her results, the 25-year-old made headlines around the world after taking part in a fascinating documentary with vlogger Vitya Kravchenko where she spoke openly about her personal life for the first time, as well as the war in Ukraine. Andrey Rublev also took part in the documentary which was filmed in Spain where the two players train.
At the centre of Kasatkina’s success on the court is her coach Carlos Martinez. A former player on the men’s Tour who has previously worked with the likes of Svetlana Kuznetsova, Marc Lopez, Kateryna Kozlova and Feliciano Lopez. The most striking aspect about Martinez is his honesty. He could easily say everything over the past few months has been great for Kasatkina but instead he points out there are still improvements to be made. His philosophy as a coach is ‘to go day-by-day and to do our best every day.’
Martinez spoke to UbiTennis shortly before Kasatkina won her sixth Tour title in Granby this weekend. The Spaniard explains why it was important to play a tournament the week before the US Open and what his expectations are for the Grand Slam.
UBITENNIS: Carlos, we last spoke during the French Open. Since then Daria has won the San Jose Open. How would you describe her current form heading into the US Open?
MARTINEZ: She has been doing well but not since San Jose. She didn’t play her best tennis and didn’t compete very well. The mentality was good. She had a few matches where she played well but her level was not unbelievable.
She has been doing well all summer because after Miami we made more specific preparations and then she was practising hard on court. That is why since summer she has been doing well and now we have got the results.
She is very consistent and this is what I want from her, to be very consistent every week. After San Jose, she lost two matches against Andreescu and Anisimova. They were tough matches against good opponents but in my opinion she could have won both matches. She is doing well and now she is in the final of Granby. My philosophy is to go day-by-day and to do our best every day. Like this, she is going to achieve the results she wants.
UBITENNIS: There has been a lot going on in Dasha’s personal life and when she spoke publicly about her sexuality there was a lot of media attention. Have you noticed any positive impact on her tennis since this has happened? Other athletes in the past have said they feel they perform better after coming out.
MARTINEZ: I will not talk about her personal life because I want to focus on her performance in tennis. I do not agree that since she did that interview, everything was getting better. At the beginning of the year and then in the summer she was good. To me, this is not the reason why she is playing well and winning matches. I am focused on just her tennis career and trying to help her in the best way.
UBITENNIS: Daria was the only top 10 player to play in a WTA event the week before the US Open. Why did you decide to play in Canada instead of heading to New York earlier?
MARTINEZ: I am not focused on her ranking but the level of her performance. After losing two first-round matches I didn’t want her to wait two weeks between Cincinnati and the US Open. Because it is possible that at the end of one month she could play just two matches.
For Dasha, it is important for her to be in competitions. To have this adrenaline inside (her). I think the best preparation for her US Open is to play here (in Canada). Every single tournament to me is important, every match she plays is important for her improvement. That’s why we are here and next week we are going to be at the US Open. It’s going to be what it’s going to be. The most important (thing) is to play in the present.
UBITENNIS: What do you think of Daria’s US Open draw? She has only managed to reach the fourth round in New York once in her career so far.
MARTINEZ: The draw is always tough. The first match is super tough and the second match is super tough. So there are no easy matches.
There are many good players, it depends on the part of their career…. we will see. Dasha right now is in a good shape. I like to see the present – not the past or the future. She did this in the past (reach round four) and I hope every single year she is going to be better and better.
UBITENNIS: I understand that your main job is to work on Daria’s physical training. How does she manage the mental side of being an athlete?
MARTINEZ: I am trying to help her both ways because I think I can with my experience as a coach and as a player. We are talking a lot about tennis, the technical and tactical side. But also about how to manage situations in matches, how to see the light and these kinds of things. I am trying to support her in both ways.
Physically, tennistally and mentally. This is how I work with her. She is a very tough player mentally and tennistically.
Kasatkina is the 10th seed at the US Open and will begin her campaign against Great Britain’s Harriet Dart. In her section of the draw, she could play Veronika Kudermetova in the third round followed by Jabeur.
