Kasatkina moves past injured Garcia; faces Giorgi in Eastbourne semis

No.9 seed Daria Kasatkina moved into the Rothesay International semifinals when No.2 seed Caroline Garcia retired from their quarterfinal match on Thursday. Kasatkina was leading 6-2, 2-1 when Garcia retired due to a right shoulder injury.

In Friday's semifinal, Kasatkina will face Camila Giorgi, who also advanced via retirement. Giorgi took the first set from Jelena Ostapenko 7-6(8), saving three set points, before Ostapenko retired due to dizziness. This is the third straight year Giorgi has reached the Eastbourne semifinals.

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Kasatkina has won both of her previous matches against Giorgi. This will be their first grass-court meeting.

Kasatkina moves forward: After advancing past Garcia, World No.11 Kasatkina is into the Eastbourne semifinals for the first time in her career. Kasatkina was defeated in her two previous Eastbourne quarterfinals, losing to Angelique Kerber in 2018 and eventual champion Ostapenko in 2021.

"It's always sad to see someone get hurt, especially before a Grand Slam, so I wish Caroline a speedy recovery and to take care of herself," Kasatkina said after Thursday's match. "It's not the best way to get through, of course.

"I prepared a helmet today because Caroline is a super aggressive player," Kasatkina added with a laugh. "I had to be really focused and try to put as many balls as I can inside the court, and to be aggressive when I can. This is a bit tricky balance, let's say, and it's not easy to find sometime."

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Despite the retirement, this still counts as Kasatkina's first victory over a Top 10 player this year. It is also Kasatkina's second grass-court win over a Top 10 player in her career; her first grass-court Top 10 win came over then-No.9 Iga Swiatek at Eastbourne two years ago.

Giorgi returns to semis: Meanwhile, World No.67 Giorgi will have a third consecutive chance to reach her first Eastbourne final. She lost to Ostapenko in last year's semifinals, and also fell to Anett Kontaveit in the 2021 semifinals.

In fact, Ostapenko had beaten Giorgi in both of their previous grass-court meetings, and Ostapenko was up a break on three separate occasions in Thursday's set as well. But Ostapenko could not serve out the set at 5-4 and 6-5, as Giorgi matched her power for power.

In the tiebreak, sturdy hitting gave Ostapenko three set points at 6-5, 7-6 and 8-7 (the third coming after her sixth ace of the day), but Giorgi erased each of those chances.

From 8-7 down, Giorgi fired her 10th and 11th aces back-to-back, earning her own set point at 9-8. Giorgi converted that opportunity after an ailing Ostapenko sent a backhand long to end the grueling 72-minute first set.

Last week's Birmingham champion Ostapenko stopped the match after that set, which ended her seven-match winning streak.