The best tennis player in Russia this season is in crisis. At least, after the failure at the Australian Open, she could not regain her former form for a long time.

Finally, at the prestigious tournament in Charleston, it seemed that Daria Kasatkina was capable of not only regaining confidence, but even winning the first trophy of the year.

In the semi-final against a more status opponent, Dasha looked great … until it started to rain. The long break announced by the organizers was a disaster for the Russian woman.

cardinal change

Perhaps there are no fans in Russia who would not hear the name of Kasatkina. Despite her rather young age, the 25-year-old athlete got into the top 10 of the world ranking back in 2018.

True, it was followed by a long and heavy streak, which turned for a native of Togliatti into a fall to the level of the basement of the first hundred WTA. Together with the Spanish coach Carlos Martinez, the girl was able to overcome the crisis, returning last year to high positions and even taking part in the final WTA tournament for the first time in her career.

Daria Kasatkina / Photo: © Julian Finney / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

But Kasatkin still cannot keep his form. This season, she has only one final, which took place at the beginning of the year – on January 14 in Adelaide, she lost without a chance to Belinda Bencic (0:6, 2:6). After that, there was a crash to the Australian Open in the first round. Yes, and at less status tournaments, Dasha, for the most part, did not go beyond the second round. Moreover, the nature of the defeats was humiliating: Dasha took only 2-3 games.

For a tennis player ranked eighth in the WTA rankings, this is a very weak result. Against this emotional background, Kasatkina stops working with Martinez and goes to the inexperienced and “green” by the standards of tennis Italian Flavio Chippole.

— It was scary to end such a long relationship with the coach. Difficult, almost four years worked together. Yes, and it’s difficult to start with a new coach when you don’t know a person at all, Kasatkina admitted.

A light in the end of a tunnel

It is rather difficult to say that the change of mentor benefited Dasha. Before Charleston, Kasatkina played four tournaments and again did not play more than two matches in one city. But at least she began to win occasionally and even in lost meetings she clung to the result: for example, in Dubai and Miami she took one set each from Kreychikova and Mertens.

And already at the WTA-500 tournament in South Carolina, hope dawned in the hearts of Kasatkina’s fans. In the second and third rounds, she confidently beat the American Brengle and Pera without giving them a set.

Daria Kasatkina after the victory over the Maddison Keys / Photo: © Matthew Stockman / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

In the quarterfinals, Dasha got a top-25 rival – Madison Keys from the USA. The Russian woman gave the first game in a tie-break, but did not flinch and pulled out the match – 6:7 (5:7), 6:4, 6:2. Considering the previous problems, this is already a serious step forward.

damn rain

In the semi-finals, Kasatkina faced a real test – the fifth racket of the world, Ons Zhaber. Previously, Dasha lost four times in a row to a girl from Tunisia, and the last two defeats were just on clay last spring. However, this year, Ons is also not as good as last year. Here in Charleston, she made it to the semi-finals for only the second time during the season.

The statistics are unpleasant, but for our tennis player this is not of decisive importance now. The main thing is to play. And Kasatkina was not allowed to do this. In the first set, Dasha immediately made a break, then another one and took the lead 4:1 before her serve. Then the Russian woman allowed her opponent to return one game, but still remained calm and improved the situation on the court with a return break – 5:2.

Photo: © Matthew Stockman / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Perhaps this was a fateful moment: if Kasatkina took the pitch, she would go on a long break, leading 1-0 in sets. But at that moment, no one suspected the seriousness of the rain, which began to drizzle. Dasha lost on her serve, but kept the lead in the set 5:3. With the score at 15:15 on Jaber’s serve, the referee stopped the game due to heavy rain.

The girls immediately left the court – it became clear that the matter would not be limited to a short pause. As a result, the athletes waited for the resumption of the match for more than three hours, and when they entered the stadium, Dasha’s condition was completely different. She lost four games in a row and the first set – 5:7, and then with the same score lost in the second.

After the game, the frustrated Russian woman reasonably noticed.

“I would just like all tennis matches to be held indoors, like in most other sports,” Kasatkina complained about the organization of the tournament.

Interestingly, the athlete from Tunisia frankly admitted the key role of rain in the outcome of the match.

“We have to thank the rain. He allowed me to talk to the coach,” said the finalist.

It is noteworthy that Jaber’s rival in the main match of the tournament has not yet been determined: due to rain, the meeting between Bencic and Jessica Pegula was also interrupted with a score of 7:5, 6:6 (2:4).

So the elements in South Carolina thrill the nerves of absolutely everyone. And Dasha is right that this has nothing to do with normal tennis. For Kasatkina, this, of course, is little consolation, but our tennis player should definitely gain confidence in clay tournaments in the context of preparing for the main one – Roland Garros.