Daria Kasatkina knocked off Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. The Russian, coming off a strong showing in Auckland, continued to display her strong form, upsetting the 27th-seeded Slovakian 6-3, 6-3. Kasatkina, who upset Venus Williams in Auckland a couple of weeks ago, could be on a crash course with Venus’ younger sister, world number one Serena Williams, should she win her second round match against youngster Ana Konjuh who defeated Urszula Radwanska.

Kasatkina Takes Opener

The Slovakian opened up with a nice service hold which was followed by a straightforward hold for the Russian. Kasatkina would go on to break for 2-1 with a return winner but saw the break lead quickly evaporated as Schmiedlova broke right back for 2-2.

The Russian hit back once again for a third consecutive service break amongst the two as she grabbed the 3-2. She went on to extend that lead to 4-2 after holding.

Schmiedlova faced break point for a third consecutive service game. She was able to save it and came through with a massive hold to keep her falling from two breaks down. The 27th seed used a variety of serves as well as more aggressive play to keep her in the set as a short forehand winner down the line made it 3-4.

The Russian moved to within a game of the set after holding for 5-3. The Slovakian’s struggles on serve continued as she faced another break point, but this one was a set point. The Russian delivered a massive second serve return followed by a swinging volley to take the opening set 6-3.

The key stat here was second serve points won. Though neither woman was particularly brilliant, Kasatkina won 43 percent of those points while Schmiedlova won a lowly 23 percent.

Kasatkina Holds On To Take It In Straights

The Russian’s dominance on the return continued straight into set two. She broke in Schmiedlova’s first service game of the set to move up 2-0. She broke once again then followed it with a hold to move up 5-0 and was ready to deliver a bagel to the Slovakian.

Despite being down 2-5, Schmiedlova did not back down. The 26 seed held to get on the board in the second set and broke to get one break of serve back for 2-5 down.

At 3-5 down, Schmiedlova had a massive chance to go up three break points. She missed a sitter, dumping a short forehand into the net, which  was devastating for the Slovakian but still had the slight advantage leading 15-30. A few more errors from Schmiedlova’s racket gave Kasatkina match point, and she’d do no wrong as she closed out the match 6-3, 6-3. Like the first set, it was service points won that was the key but this time, it was first serve points. The Russian won more than three-quarters of her first serve points while Schmiedlova won just under 60 percent.

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About the author
Noel John Alberto
Filipino-American sports journalist from Toms River, NJ. UMBC Graduate and aspiring physical therapist. Tennis editor and multi-sport coordinator for VAVEL USA. Writer for Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Serie A sections of VAVEL UK. Sports aficionado. Host of the On The Line tennis podcast.