Adopted Aussie Daria Kasatkina bows out of French Open
Adopted Australian Daria Kasatkina suffered a fourth round defeat to rising teen star Mirra Andreeva, blowing an opportunity to force a deciding third set against her close friend as she was eliminated from the French Open in Paris.
Kasatkina defected from Russia to become an Australian last March, but it was her former compatriot and regular practice partner who delivered the demolition job at Roland Garros in a comprehensive 6-3 7-5 victory in just 94 minutes.
The pair enjoyed a light-hearted moment at the end of the tense match as Kasatkina threw her sweat band at Andreeva at the net, only for the young Russian to stuff it down her top and proceed to sledge her in the on-court interview.
'Honestly I am so, so happy I won. I hate playing against her. We practice so much and even the practice is torture,' said Andreeva.
'She raised her level in the second set and I knew I needed to continue to fight and raising my game.
'My coach says I have to practice with people you don't like, so I practice a lot with her because I hate her … only joking. She is a great person and a great player.'
Andreeva, the 18-year-old world No. 6, is a reigning semi-finalist at the French Open and looked completely in control on the clay firing off backhand winners with her precision and power.
She broke Kasatkina in the eighth game of the first set and then sealed the set with a booming forehand.
'It is just controlled aggression,' former world No. 4 Jelena Dokic said in commentary for Nine.
It was part of a 5-0 run for Andreeva as she immediately broke serve to start the second set on the path to what appeared to be a straight-forward run towards a comprehensive victory.
But then Kasatkina settled into her game. She switched from passive to aggressive tennis, added some variety to her game and the winners started flowing.
With back-to-back service breaks, Kasatkina was suddenly in control and had the chance to serve for the second set but failed as Andreeva went for her shots again to break back.
It was the first and only opportunity Kasatkina had to get back into the match, as Andreeva didn't afford her another opening and rattled off four straight games to secure the win and a place in the quarter-finals.
Despite the loss Dokic said there was positive signs for the new Aussie No. 1 female player ahead of the grass court season with Wimbledon next month.
'Kasatkina played some great tennis and still has a lot to build from. We look forward to what she can do on grass,' Dokic said.
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