August 22, 2022 -03371635-/Tennis Canada Daria Kasatkina
It will be Daria vs. Daria in the final of the National Bank Championships.
Top seed Daria Kasatkina clinched her spot in the title match with a dominant win on Friday, needing just 63 minutes to defeat Diane Parry 6-2, 6-0.
Standing between Kasatkina and the title in Granby is Daria Saville, who did not need to play a semifinal on Friday. Her would-be opponent, Marta Kostyuk, withdrew from the event on Thursday night following her quarter-final win with a shoulder injury.
With a spot in the final on the line, Kasatkina brought her A-game, particularly on return as she broke serve six times in the match and won 60 percent of points on her opponent’s serve.
The match got off to a wild start with three straight breaks of serve before Kasatkina held for a 3-1 lead. She continued returning well and added another break on her way to a 5-1 lead.
When Parry held for 2-5, it was her first time and only time in the match holding serve. It was not enough as the top seed closed out the set 6-2, having won 58 per cent of her opponents service points.
Kasatkina kept rolling into the second set, breaking in the first game and never looking back as she swept it in just 28 minutes. The top seed only lost ten points in the second set.
Saturday’s final will be a third meeting between the two Darias. Kasatkina has won both previous meetings in straight sets, although it will be a first match between the pair in five years.
