Kasatkina has lost her last three matches to the reigning Australian Open champion and couldn’t mask her disappointment at hearing she would be her next opponent at the ecotrans Ladies Open.
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Never let it be said that Daria Kasatkina doesn’t keep it 💯.
The world No. 14 was fresh off a hard-fought victory over Marta Kostyuk at the ecotrans Ladies Open in Berlin when she was informed her next opponent would be reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka—and responded as most of us would:
Of course, most of us have the benefit of not having to hear that kind of news on camera.
Kasatkina, who has lost her last three matches to Sabalenka and trails 2-6 in their overall head-to-head, laughed off the reaction as did good friend and fellow Dasha, Daria Saville.
“Classic,” captioned the Aussie, who got her own tough draw in Birmingham after battling through two rounds of qualifying only to pull No. 2 seed Barbora Krejcikova.
For her part, Kasatkina needed two hours and 39 minutes to rally from a set down against Kostyuk, and the former world No. 8 was far more eloquent in describing the comeback itself during her on-court interview.
“This 500 is special,” said Kasatkina, who is unseeded despite being ranked four spots outside of the Top 10. “You can get a top player in the first round, so it’s a very tough tournament. The list of the player is incredible. Especially when you play your first match on grass, it’s going to be tricky. I felt that in the first set, but then I got used to it a little bit more.
“I think we played a good match and I’m happy with how I was able to get through this very tough moment because it was very difficult to play when you’re coming back on grass after one year.”
Sabalenka will also be playing her first match on grass, and her first on any surface since exiting in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros to Mirra Andreeva.
