Athletistic/Tennis. The Russian Daria Kasatkina will face the American Jessica Pegula in the quarter-finals of the tournament in Tokyo (Japan). The match will take place on September 29 from 08:00 Moscow time.
Kasatkina
Kasatkina is in good form and for the fourth consecutive tournament she has completed at least two rounds. Certainly, in Tokyo, Daria has difficulty on the grid. At first, to defeat Kostyuk, he had to play three sets (3-6, 6-4, 6-3).
Then there was a fairly close match against Papamikhail, lower in class (6-4, 6-4). As expected, the Russian did not let things get dramatic, but this match cannot be called simple either, if only for the reason that it lasted just over two hours. Added to this is the heat – the climatic conditions in Tokyo are not very easy now, which Kasatkina emphasized after the match with the Greek tennis player. In this match, Daria, as usual, made a lot of mistakes in her own service games, but thanks to effective actions on the return, she still put the finishing touches on the world number 220.
Kasatkina is the winner of seven WTA tournaments (including six in singles); Winner of the Billie Jean King Cup (2021); winner of a junior Grand Slam singles tournament (2014 French Open); former world number three in the junior rankings; 2014 Youth Olympic Games silver medalist in girls’ doubles.
Pegula
Jessica was one of the top seeds, thanks to which she started directly in the second round. In her only match so far, the American defeated Spaniard Kristina Buksha – 6:1, 6:2. It was Pegula’s first match since the US Open, where she only reached the fourth round. In his case, this is not the best result. But a little earlier, Jessica won a major tournament in Montreal. There she managed to stop even Iga Swiatek.
In the only personal meeting on clay, Pegula defeated Kasatkina in straight sets with a difference of five games. Hard, Daria will not be able to take revenge. Jessica started confidently in Tokyo and saved a lot of energy, unlike her opponent. Additionally, the American is able to play her serve more consistently, which is important on a hard and fast court in Japan’s capital.
Forecast
There will be no sensation. Pegula will win.
Source: Sport
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
