French Open: Kasatkina storms past Giorgi to reach quarterfinals

Paris, May 30 (IANS): No.20 seed Russian Daria Kasatkina continued her ruthless form at Roland Garros, defeating No.28 seed Camila Giorgi of Italy 6-2, 6-2 in 1 hour and 20 minutes to reach the French Open quarterfinals here on Monday.

Former World No.10 Kasatkina has yet to drop a set and indeed has conceded just 14 games in four matches so far. She has only lost serve on two occasions – neither to Giorgi, against whom she saved all six breakpoints.

The 25-year-old Kasatkina had not reached the second week of a Grand Slam since making back-to-back quarterfinals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2018. But having slumped to World No.71 by the end of 2020, she has essayed a resurgence over the past two years.

In 2021, Kasatkina reached four WTA Tour finals, winning two of them; in Rome this month, she made her first WTA 1000 semifinal since 2018. Her season record is now 22-10.

Kasatkina improved her head-to-head against Giorgi to 2-0, having previously beaten the Italian in the 2020 Lyon quarterfinals. Giorgi, who snapped a seven-match losing streak at tour level at Roland Garros, falls to 1-3 in Grand Slam fourth rounds, but has now reached the second week of every major except the Australian Open.

Kasatkina will next face either No.22 seed Madison Keys or No.29 seed Veronika Kudermetova as she bids to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal.