Daria Kasatkina will play for the title in Eastbourne for the second straight year after she rallied for a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Roland Garros finalist Jasmine Paolini in Friday's semifinals.

Sixth seed Kasatkina, who lost to Madison Keys in last year's final, won six of the last seven games in the final set to defeat No.3 seed Paolini, who this week was playing her first tournament since reaching the singles and doubles finals in Paris three weeks ago, in their first grass-court meeting in 2 hours and 16 minutes.

Kasatkina hadn't beaten Paolini since 2019, and the pair's overall head-to-head is now level at 3-3. It also marked her second Top 10 win of the season.

"It's never easy to come to the tournament where you have to defend a lot of points, but I'm really happy that I was able to play good and enjoy myself on court, always finding a way to come back in the match," Kasatkina said afterwards. "I'm really proud of myself."

Finding a way is exactly what Kasatkina did in a match where Paolini hit nearly twice her total of winners. In total, the two players faced a combined 29 break points, and the match saw nine breaks of serve in total. Five of those came in the first set. But the first 11 games of the second set went by without a break, with a combined six break points swatted aside by the pair. A 17-ball rally at 0-15 in the 12th game, where quick reactions by Kasatkina helped her flick a backhand winner behind Paolini, helped her secure the deciding break. 

"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 great player who's playing incredible this year," Kasatkina added. 

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Kasatkina will face Leylah Fernandez, who dethroned Keys in the other semifinal, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, in a bid for her seventh career Hologic WTA Tour singles title. The 2021 US Open finalist is bidding for a third career title in her sixth final, with her previous five coming on hard courts. Kasatkina, meanwhile, has lost her last five finals, including three this year, and is seeking her first title since 2022. 

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"Grass suits Leylah very good. Her game, she's a very aggressive player, always trying to stay inside [the court]," Kasatkina said. "She's in great form now, beat very good players this week. In the finals, everyone wants to win, so I'll just go and try to enjoy myself, and let's see how this final is going to turn out."