Silicon Valley Classic: Daria Kasatkina makes 2nd straight trip to San Jose finale

Shelby Rogers and Daria Kasatkina will play each other for the Silicon Valley Classic title in San Jose on Sunday. On Saturday, both players won their respective semi-finals in straight sets.

Rogers, the last American in the fray in the tournament ousted Veronika Kudermetova 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 20 minutes. Rogers had one ace and double fault each but her ninth-seeded player finished the match with five aces and four double faults. The 29-year-old unseeded contender won 72% of her first-serve points while the latter won 55% points off her first serves. Rogers was able to breach Kudermetova’s serve five times even as she dropped hers twice across the proceedings.

This is Rogers’ first final in over six years. Her last final came at the Rio Open in 2016. Post-match, Rogers said, “Amazing. This is the position you want to be in every single week. This is what we train for. As much as you sacrifice and put in the work, it’s just nice to see it all come together. This is probably one of the most fun weeks that I’ve had on tour. That says a lot about why I’m playing well.”

Silicon Valley Classic: The Shelby Rogers-Daria Kasatkina rivalry reignites

Meanwhile, Rogers’ fellow finalist, Daria Kasatkina took down the second-seeded Paula Badosa in their semi-final clash. The seventh seed wrapped up a 6-2, 6-4 victory in an hour and 22 minutes. This is the second straight year that she’s contesting the final in the WTA event. In 2021, she’d lost the title round to Danielle Collins.

Kasatkina won 70% of her first-serve points to the Spaniard’s 60%. She finished the match with 11 winners and unforced errors each. While Badosa finished with five more winners than her rival, she also ended the match with 19 more unforced errors. For the match, Kasatkina saved all but five of the seven break points she faced while converting five of the nine break points she had on Badosa’s serve.

The Silicon Valley Classic final will be the third time Shelby Rogers and Daria Kasatkina will be squaring off against each other. Both players have evenly split their previous meetings with the latter rival winning their most-recent match-up, in the 2022 French Open third round.