French Open: Daria Kasatkina beats Veronika Kudermetova to set up potential Iga Swiatek semi-final showdown

Daria Kasatkina beat Veronika Kudermetova 6-4 7-5(5) to reach a Grand Slam semi-final for the first time in her career. The former world No. 10 Kasatkina has yet to drop a set in Paris yet this year, and will face the winner of Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula at the semi-final stage.

Ad/> The 25-year-old — now ranked 20th in the world — fought back from a break down to win the first set, and looked in pole position to make a career-first Grand Slam semi-final but — leading 4-3 — three consecutive breaks of serve, two for Kudermetova and one for Kasatkina, put the set back on serve at 5-5. Roland-GarrosThird seed Badosa forced to retire hurt as Kudermetova progresses28/05/2022 AT 13:12 At which point, Kudermetova held to put herself one game from forcing a decider when she held serve. However, she would then call the trainer, and after that break Kasatkina seemed more settled, holding serve to send it to a tie-break that she dominated to race into a 5-1 lead.

She would eventually seal her progression on the fifth match point. Speaking in her post-match on-court interview, Kasatkina said: «You could see that the match was really nervous and tight, especially the tie-break. ‘A different level!’ — Wilander says no player left to hurt Swiatek Iga Swiatek v Jessica Pegula — LIVE stream and updates »The last few points were super tight but I’m happy in the end that I won.

«It’s a very important win for me and I’m happy to be in the semis for the first time. »To not stop my legs [during the medical timeout] was the most important [thing] because if I stop my legs I cannot play so I was trying to forget about the games I lost, especially the one on the return as I had a few break points. /> «It’s tough, it’s so mental but I’m