MOSCOW, Russia - No.2 seed Daria Kasatkina kicked off her Moscow River Cup 2018 campaign in emphatic fashion, dropping just two games against fellow Russian Anna Kalinskaya in her 6-1, 6-1 victory.
“I don’t think my start was that slow,” Kasatkina explained afterwards. “It was the first match of the tournament, so there were a few nerves, but it’s normal. Most importantly, I got my game going towards the middle of the first set.”
She added: “Switching from clay to hard is much easier than the other way round. To make the transition smoother I do a lot strength training, especially before grass and clay seasons.”
Read more: Kanepi zooms past Zvonareva at inaugural Moscow River Cup
.@DKasatkina takes the opening set 6-1 at the @moscowrivercup! pic.twitter.com/Pw6ccq2UE3
— WTA (@WTA) July 24, 2018
Kasatkina came into the International-level clay event on the back of her career-best grass court season, which saw her reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. She also recorded a quarterfinal finish at Roland Garros, Madrid and Charleston earlier during the clay season.
That experience and confidence made the difference against the 19-year-old Kalinskaya, who has yet to win a WTA match in 2018. Kalinskaya was meekly broken to 15 in her opening service game, and she replied with a break straight back to level at 1-1.
But that was all the younger Russian could manage as Kasatkina’s heavy hitting game got going, with Kasatkina reeling off nine games in a row to zoom ahead in the opening set and start the second with a 4-0 lead. Kalinskaya once again managed one of the breaks back, but she couldn’t stem Kasatkina’s momentum as the No.2 seed took the match in just 54 minutes.
.@DKasatkina books her place in the second round of the @moscowrivercup!
Gets the win over Kalinskaya 6-1, 6-1! pic.twitter.com/8bfjhb6iUf— WTA (@WTA) July 24, 2018
Kasatkina stayed solid and aggressive against Kalinskaya, striking 16 winners to 12 unforced errors against her opponent’s 10 and 19. As a result she was rewarded with 11 break chances - converting on seven of them.
Up next, Kasatkina will take on Slovenia’s Tamara Zidansek in the second round. Like Kasatkina, Zidansek wasted no time making her way past her opening-round opponent, easing past on-the-rise German Antonia Lottner in straight sets yesterday, 6-3, 6-1.