SAN FRANCISCO: Daria Kasatkina rallied to beat Shelby Rogers in three sets Sunday, capturing her fifth WTA title at the hardcourt tournament in San Jose, California.
Kasatkina, ranked 12th in the world and seeded seventh, triumphed 6-7 (2/7), 6-1, 6-2 as she went one better than her runner-up finish to Danielle Collins in San Jose last year, lifting her first WTA trophy since St. Petersburg last year.
The victory will move the 25-year-old back into the top 10 in the tennis world rankings.
Kasatkina denied the 45th-ranked Rogers a maiden title. The 29-year-old American was playing in just her third WTA final, and her first since Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
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Kasatkina’s all-court game and crafty shot selection proved too much for the big-hitting Rogers.
The American was unable to capitalize on some suspect serving from Kasatkina in the early going and coming off worse in the longer rallies.
Kasatkina, pounding Rogers’s backhand, twice went up a break in the opening set, which she led 5-3.
Rogers saved a set point in the 10th game as she broke to pull level at five games apiece, then the American raced to a 6-1 lead in the tiebreaker.
Kasatkina’s sixth double fault of the match gave Rogers a string of set points. Rogers misfired on a forehand on the first, but nailed a forehand winner on the second to secure the set after an hour and 18 minutes.
From there, however, it was all Kasatkina as she took full advantage as Rogers’s game went flat.
She broke for 3-1 and, untroubled on her own serve, broke again in the sixth game after Rogers led 40-0, polishing off the set on her first opportunity.
Kasatkina broke Rogers to open the third and kept rolling, capturing both the second and third sets in almost the same time it took to complete the first.
She capped a week that saw her post victories over Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and top 10 players Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa, ranked fourth in the world, on the way to the final.
Kasatkina came from a set down against both Rybakina and Sabalenka also as she continued a strong season that saw her reach back-to-back semi-finals at Rome and Roland Garros.
It was a disappointing end to a solid week for Rogers, who had served a tournament-leading 20 aces through her first four matches.
She hadn’t dropped a set on the way to the final, beating former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu and top seed Maria Sakkari along the way.
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