Daria Kasatkina beats Jasmine Paolini to set up final against Leylah Fernandez in Eastbourne - UBITENNIS
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Daria Kasatkina beats Jasmine Paolini to set up final against Leylah Fernandez in Eastbourne

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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 12thgame. 

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. 

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Alexander Zverev beats Roberto Carballes Baena to reach the second round at Wimbledon

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Alexander Zverev cruised past Roberto Carballes Baena 6-2 6-4 6-2 in 1 hour and 53 minutes under the closed roof of Court one to reach the second round for the seventh time in his eight appearances at Wimbledon. Zverev hit 46 winners, including 18 aces. 

Carballes Baena saved three break points in the first game of the match to hold serve. Zverev broke serve in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead, when Carballes Baena sent a backhand long. Zverev broke for the second time in the seventh game before closing out the first set in in little more than 30 minutes. 

Zverev broke serve in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. Carballes Baena saved two set points, as he was serving to stay in the match. Zverev served out the second set on his first set point. 

Zverev broke in the first game of the third set. The German player saved three break points to hold serve in the second game. The 2021 Olympic champion broke for the second time in the seventh game and saved out the win on his first match point after saving a set point. 

Zverev has improved his record to 12-2 in Grand Slam matches this  season after reaching the semifinal at Roland Garros and the final at Roland Garros.

Zverev set up a second round match against either Marcos Giron and Henry Searle. 

“I have struggled over the years on these beautiful courts, but I feel different this year, somehow much more into it and more alive on these courts. Hopefully I can show that in the next few matches. For some reason, very early in my career I decided that I hate grass courts, then for some reason I decided that I love them”, said Zverev. 

Argentine Francisco Comesana upset Andrey Rublev 6-4 5-7 6-2 7-6 (7-5) in just his second grass court match.

Comesana broke serve in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead and served out the first set on his fourth set point. Rublev converted his third break point in the second game to open up a 3-0 lead. Comesana broke back in the fifth game and held serve in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. The Argentine player saved three set points in the 10th game. Rublev converted his third break point in the 12th game to win the second set 7-5. 

Comesana broke twice in the third and fifth games to open up a 5-1 lead and served out the third set with a hold at 30. 

The fourth set went on serve en route to the tie-break. Comesana earned a mini-break to take a 3-2 lead. Rublev pulled back on serve to draw level to 5-5. Comesana served out the win with his second mini-break. 

Comesana set up a second round match against Australia’s Adam Walton, who beat Federico Coria 6-3 6-3 7-5. 

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Ranking Points Should Be Awarded At The Olympics, Says Caroline Wozniacki

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Caroline Wozniacki – Australian Open 2024 (foto: X @AustralianOpen)

Former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki has come out in favour of awarding ranking points at the Olympic games due to its status and other tournaments doing so in the same week. 

In recent years points have not been given at the four-year sporting extravaganza, whose tennis event is overseen by the International Tennis Federation. A separate governing body to the ATP and WTA. The last time points were awarded was at the 2012 Games in London when gold medal winners earned 750 points in the men’s draw and 685 in the women’s. 

Wozniacki, who is set to play in her fourth Olympic Games later this year, has called for the system to be brought back. She argues it is logical to do so due to the number of top names participating. 

“I do think the Olympics should have ranking points because it’s usually the best players in the world playing,” said Wozniacki.
“It’s such a huge event and something that means a lot too. It’s special to me personally as well.
“I think ranking points should be awarded to the Olympics. There are tournaments that are going parallel with the Olympics that have ranking points, so there’s no reason why the Olympics shouldn’t have it when they have the top players in the world playing.”

Coinciding with the Paris games this year will be the Citi Open in Washington, which is classed as a 500 event for both men and women. Besides points, prize money will also be on offer. 

Before the Olympics, Wozniacki’s current focus is on Wimbledon where she got off to a dream start on Tuesday. Playing her first Tour-level match at the Grand Slam since 2019, the Dane stormed to a comprehensive 6-2, 6-0, win over Alycia Parks. 

“I’m just happy to be through to the next round,” she commented. 
“When you play a girl like that, you just never know what to expect. That was just a match that I needed to get through. Keep my head down, keep my focus all the way through and that was that.”

Wozniacki will next face 30th seed Leylah Fernandez.

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Is Being A World Class Athlete Down To Genetics? Seb Korda Gives His View

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Sebastian Korda – ATP Queen's 2024 (foto via Twitter @atptour)

Last summer a study by Anglia Ruskin University found that some people have a natural advantage when it comes to endurance training based on their genetics. 

In an eight-week study on 45 participants in the UK aged between 20 and 40, they found 18 single nucleotide polymorphisms which were directly associated with endurance improvements. SNPs explain how a genetic sequence or a single gene can vary from person to person or population to population. Their findings follow up on a separate study which claims up to 44% of a person’s endurance response is down to genetics.

Given these findings, Ubitennis was keen to know what one of the world’s best tennis players who has a sporting family think about this topic. Sebastian Korda is currently ranked 21st in the world and has one ATP title to his name. He is the son of former Australian Open champion Petr Korda and former WTA top 30 player Regina Rajchrtova. Meanwhile, his sisters, Jessica and Nelly, are pro golfers on LPGA Tour.

“I don’t think it really has anything to do with it,” Korda said at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
“My parents did all they could do to allow us to have the opportunity to play professional sports and we’re all very grateful for that.
It definitely helps when you have athletes in your family, they can help you in certain situations.
“But at the end of the day, you gotta work hard and you gotta wank to improve every day. Those are the keys for any athlete in the world.”

Korda’s Wimbledon journey came to an abrupt end in the first round where he suffered a shock 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 7-6(6), 6-7(4), 6-3, loss to big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard who hit an incredible 51 aces during the five-set thriller. It is a bitter pill for the American to swallow after he impressed on the grass in the warm-up events. Reaching the final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and then the semi-finals in Queen’s.

“I wasn’t surprised,” Korda replied when asked about his opponent’s high level of tennis.
“I thought it wasn’t going to be as good as that, but I knew he was an unbelievable server. I’ve watched some videos of him. I watched him when he won his title in Lyon at the French a little bit. 
“I’m sure he’s only going to get better for the years to come and I wish him all the best.”

As for the near future, a disappointed Korda was unsure when asked if he might now take a brief break from the sport. 

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do right now. It’s too, too soon to know what’s going on.” He concluded. 

It is the first time the 23-year-old has lost in the first round at Wimbledon since 2019. 

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