Daria Kasatkina made it through to the semi-finals of the Granby Open on Thursday. The top seed needed an hour and 22 minutes to get through 6-3, 6-2 against fifth seed Nuria Parrizas Diaz.
Kasatkina’s serve once again came under pressure as she hit nine double faults in the match. She won 70% of her first-serve points and 54% points on return on the Spaniard’s first serve. However, when it came to winning second-serve points, neither player fared all too well. Kasatkina won 30% of her second-serve points while Parrizas Diaz won 22%. Kasatkina saved eight of the 10 break points she faced while converting six of the eight break points she had on her opponent’s serve.
Granby Open: Will there be a clash of the two Darias?
In the semi-finals, Kasatkina will play Diane Parry. The Frenchwoman ousted Tatjana Maria in their quarter-final match-up, 6-4, 4-6(6), 7-6(4). Parry needed two hours and 54 minutes to secure the win.
Maria had 10 aces and five double faults while Parry had one of each. Maria also won 84% of her first-serve points while Parry won 67%. The match had merely three breaks of serve, two of which came on the German’s serve. Both players finished with 116 points for the match.
Marta Kostyuk also reached the semi-finals after claiming a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 win over Rebecca Marino in an hour and 33 minutes. The Ukrainian saved three of the six break points she faced while converting six of the 13 break points that came her way on Marino’s serve.
However, before her semi-final against Daria Saville, Kostyuk withdrew from the Granby Open with an injury to her shoulder. The Australian ninth seed, meanwhile, posted a 6-3, 6-0 win against Xiyu Wang in an hour and 13 minutes. Saville won 74% of her first-serve points to Wang’s 48% and converted five break points on the latter’s serve. Saville also lost her serve once across the proceedings. This is Saville’s first final in over five years, since she reached the final of the Hong Kong Open in 2017.