Daria Kasatkina came back from one set down to beat this year’s Roland Garros Jasmine Paolini 3-6 7-5 6-3 in the semifinal in Eastbourne reaching her second consecutive final at this tournament. 

Kasatkina won six of the final seven games to beat Paolini, who was playing her first tournament since reaching the singles and doubles finals at Roland Garros.

Kasatkina beat Paolini for the first time since 2019. They are now level to 3-3 in their six head-to-head matches.

The first set featured nine breaks, including five in the first set. Kasatkina earned an early break in the first game of the opening set, but Paolini broke straight back in the second game. Paolini broke for the second time in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. Kasatkina broke straight back in the seventh game for 3-4. Paolini earned her third break in the eighth game to win the first set 6-3.  

Both players went on serve in the first nine games of the second set. Both players fended off a combined six break points. Kasatkina sealed the second set with a late break in the 12^thgame. 

Kasatkina went down in the first game of the third set, but she broke back in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. Kasatkina broke again in the sixth game before serving out the win in the ninth game. 

 “It’s never easy to come to the tournament  where you have to defend a lot of points, but I am really that I was able to play good and I was able to enjoy myself on court, always finding a way to come back in the match. I am really proud of myself. On grass, everything can change in any moment, so I was trying to be focused on each point and fight until the end against a player who is playing incredible this year”, said Kasatkina.  

Kasatkina will face 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, who beat Madison Keys 6-3 3-6 6-3. Fernandez is chasing the third final of her career in her six finals. 

“Grass suits Leylah very good. She is a very aggressive player, always trying to stay inside the court. She is in great form, beat very good players this week, in the finals everyone wants to win, so I will just go and try to enjoy myself, and let’s see how this final is going to turn out”, said Kasatkina. 

Fernandez converted her third break point in the second game to open up a 3-0 lead. Keys broke straight back in the fifth game for 2-3. Fernandez earned her second break in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead and served out at love in the ninth game. 

Keys broke Fernandez in the second game of the second set and held serve at 15 to open up a 3-0 lead. Fernandez broke back in the fifth game and held serve to 30 in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. Keys earned her second break in the eighth game to seal the second set 6-3. 

Fernandez converted her third break in the second game and held serve at 15 to open up a 3-0 lead. The Canadian player fended off four break points in the ninth game before sealing the biggest win of her season on her second match point. 

Taylor Fritz beat Shan Juncheng 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5) in 1 hour and 46 minutes to reach the semifinals at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne. 

Fritz, winner at two editions of the Eastbourne in 2019 and 2022, dropped just four points on serve and saved all four break points he faced. 

Fritz saved two break points in the seventh game to hold serve. Both players went on serve en route to the tie-break. Fritz went up a mini-break twice in the tie-break, but Shang Juncheng pulled back on serve both times. Fritz earned his third mini-break to win the tie-break 7-5. 

Shan Jucheng saved two break points in the first game of the second set, which went on serve en route to the tie-break. Fritz won the tie-break with his only mini-break on the 12^th point. 

“With the wind and everything, that was a very miserable match to play. I definitely feel well here. It’s tough to take too much from day. You are never really going to feel great hitting the ball as windy as it was. If I can serve as well as I did today, even in the wind, am really happy about that”, said Fritz.   

Fritz will take on Alexander Vukic, who beat Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-5). Vukic reached his first semifinal since 2023, when he lost the final in Atlanta against Fritz. 

British wild card Billy Harris came back from one set down to beat Flavio Cobolli 6-7 (3-6) 7-6 (7-4) 6-2. Harris reached his first semifinal in Eastbourne one week after advancing to his first ATP quarter final at Queen’s. 

Harris saved two break points in the third game of the first set, which went on serve en route to the tie-break. Cobolli earned two mini-breaks to seal the tie-break on his set point. 

Harris saved a break point in the fourth game of the second set. Cobolli fended off two break points at 2-2 and 3-3. Cobolli earned a 3-1 lead in the tie-break with a mini-break, but Harris won six of the next seven points to win the tie-break 7-4. 

Harris earned his only two breaks in the fourth and eighth games of the third set to seal the win on his third match point becoming the fifth British player to reach the semifinal in Eastbourne after Greg Rusedski, Tim Henmann, Kyle Edmund and Jack Draper. 

Harris beat Max Purcell, who beat Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3 7-6 (7-4) reaching his second ATP Tour level after Eastbourne.

Top seed Ben Shelton breezed past Australian Rinky Hijikata 6-4, 6-0 in his first grass court win of the season, and now faces Britain’s Paul Jubb who had an easy 6-0, 6-3 victory over Adam Walton.

American Shelton, who lost in the first round in Stuttgart and Queens in the last two weeks, showed clear signs of intent even in the first service game when his service speeds touched 144mph and included a second serve ace. In his return games he also surprised Hijikata by approaching the net off the return of serve – adopting the so-called “SABR” (Sneak Attack by Roger) tactic employed by legend Roger Federer towards the end of his career. 

“It was a really fun match today,” said Shelton on court after his win. “I’m happy to be back in Mallorca. I love playing here. I had a really tough first match here last year, losing 7-6 in the third, so I’m really happy to get my first win here. I’m really pleased with how I played today. I’m getting used to grass day by day.”

The key moment of the match came in the five-minute period when Hijikata held two breakpoints with the scores 3-2 and 15-40 in his favour in the first set, but Shelton produced the big serves when it mattered. And in the next game the 75^th ranked Hijikata faced breakpoints of his own and faltered when Shelton fired three consecutive fizzing forehands to take the lead. 

From thereon, Shelton gained confidence in all aspects of his game saving all six breakpoints against him and finishing with 24 winners and 13 aces, while Hijikata – who reached the quarters of Queens last week – looked lost and was blown away in the second set without getting a game on the board. 

In the quarter finals, he will play Paul Jubb from Britain who won the battle of the qualifiers against Adam Walton in just 55 minutes. Jubb has now played four matches to reach this stage and will give away a massive 275 ranking places in his upcoming showdown with Shelton, scheduled for last on court tomorrow.

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Jakub Mensik continued his remarkable run in Mallorca after winning a titanic battle with Italian veteran Fabio Fognini 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 where the first three games alone lasted over 40 minutes. Mensik defeated defending champion Christopher Eubanks in the previous round and now faces Chilean fourth seed Alejandro Tabilo who beat Alexander Shevchenko 6-3, 6-2 in 69 minutes.