Rothesay International Eastbourne 2024: Daria Kasatkina makes it second time lucky in Eastbourne after clinching title
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Daria Kasatkina makes it third time lucky in grass court finals after she fought past Leylah Fernandez 6-3, 6-4 in the Rothesay International Eastbourne final.
Today marked Kasatkina’s second consecutive appearance in the Eastbourne final, after falling short against Madison Keys last year in straight sets.
The 27-year-old snapped a five-match losing streak in WTA finals to eventually claim her seventh tour level title and first on the grass in an hour and 54 minutes. In doing so, she's also improved her record to 3-0 over Fernandez, who was competing in her first grass court final.
"It’s been a year but it feels like it’s been a few days since last year when I was standing here" Kasatkina said in her on-court interview. "I want to congratulate Leylah for a great week here. It was a very tough battle today and I hope we have many more to come on the big stage.
“Thank you to all the spectators for coming, supporting us and to the full crowds. It’s amazing to play a every match with a full stand, it’s great so thank you.
"Thank you to my team, it’s been a long road to the title but I’m really proud of ourselves and for the work we’ve put in. Thank you for being next to me no matter how bad it is, or how good it is."
Kasatkina's road to the Eastbourne title
First round: won vs Wang Xinyu 6-4, 6-2
Second round: won vs Yue Yuan 3-6, 6-4, 6-0
Quarter-final: won vs Emma Raducanu 6-2, 6-2
Semi-final: won vs Jasmine Poalini 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
Final: won vs Leylah Fernandez 6-3, 6-4
12 months on from suffering a heart-breaking defeat to Keys in the final, Kasatkina returned to the court on a mission to make it second time lucky in Eastbourne. The world No.14 raced to a one set leaad after breaking the 21-year-old twice in the opening set.
After once again breaking Fernandez in her opening service game in the second, it looked as though Kasatkina would wrap up the trophy with ease. However, the Canadian showcased her resilience to claw back level, clinching back-to-back breaks to threaten a decider. However, the now seven-time WTA titlist found a surge of energy as she rattled off three games on the bounce - closing out victory in Eastbourne with a break to love.
Kasatkina will now head to Eastbourne with a 6-1 record on the grass this season and an impressive 33-17 record on the surface throughout her career.
Despite finishing runner-up, it was an equally impressive week for Fernandez, who will take confidence from this run into the upcoming championships at Wimbledon.
“I’d like to congratulate Dasha (Kasatkina) and her team. You guys did an amazing job. Congratulations and hopefully we have many more tough matches like this."
“I’d like to thank my team for being there with me throughout this week and pushing me throughout the past couple of months. The hard work is paying. Now we have to keep going, keep working hard and never quit. Thank you so much for having my back. Hopefully we have many more of these finals."
Doubles
The women’s final saw singles world No.13 Jelena Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok battle past third ranked doubles star Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski.
The formidable due dropped their first set of the week against the Canadian, New Zealand team but eventually prevailed 5-7, 7-6(2), 10-8 to claim their fourth title as a partnership and second on the grass.
“It’s an amazing tournament, I always love coming here” Ostapenko said. “I won here in singles too (2021) and thank you to the crowd. It’s always a pleasure to play in front of you, thank you for coming the whole weekend and supporting.“Thanks to Lyudmyla for playing with me” she added. “We’re doing pretty well this season and I hope we can keep it up.
“Congrats to our opponents Gabi and Erin for having a great week. They played really well today and congrats to their team as well."
The Latvian, Ukrainian duo overturned a one set deficit to force a second set tie-break where they broke their opponents twice to level the tie. After nine breaks of serve in the match-deciding tiebreak it was Ostapenko and Kichenok who put the match to rest as the Latvian served out the win on at the first time of asking.
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