115 Facts About Daria Kasatkina

1.

Daria Sergeyevna Kasatkina was born on 7 May 1997 and is a Russian professional tennis player.

2.

Daria Kasatkina is currently the Russian No 1 player in singles.

3.

Daria Kasatkina made her top-ten debut in the WTA rankings towards the end of the 2018 season and has been ranked as high as world No 8 achieved on 24 October 2022.

4.

Daria Kasatkina excelled as a junior, winning the European 16s championship and one junior Grand Slam singles title at the 2014 French Open.

5.

Daria Kasatkina quickly ascended up the professional rankings, reaching No 32 in the world while still 18 years old and winning her first WTA title in 2017 as a teenager at the Charleston Open.

6.

Daria Kasatkina rose to prominence in 2018 by finishing runner-up to fellow up-and-coming player Naomi Osaka at the Premier Mandatory Indian Wells Open in a match regarded as representing a new wave of women's tennis.

7.

Daria Kasatkina has won the biggest titles of her career at the Kremlin Cup and at the St Petersburg Trophy at home in Russia.

8.

Daria Kasatkina was born in Tolyatti, Samara Oblast to Tatyana Borisovna and Sergey Igorevich Kasatkin.

9.

Daria Kasatkina's father works as an engineer at the Volga Automotive Plant and her mother was a lawyer.

10.

Daria Kasatkina's brother had played tennis casually, and convinced her parents to have her begin playing the sport when she was six years old.

11.

Daria Kasatkina initially played two to three times a week for two years.

12.

Daria Kasatkina began competing on the ITF Junior Circuit shortly after turning 14 years old and won her first title at just her second career event, the low-level Grade 4 Samara Cup.

13.

In early 2012 while still 14, Daria Kasatkina won two higher-level Grade 2 tournaments in Moldova and France, the former of which was the first Grade 2 event she entered.

14.

Daria Kasatkina began excelling at the highest level junior tournaments in 2013.

15.

Daria Kasatkina had her best year on the junior tour in 2014, despite competing in just five tournaments.

16.

Daria Kasatkina reached both the singles and doubles finals at the Grade 1 Trofeo Mauro Sabatini, and won the title in singles.

17.

At the last ITF tournament of her career, Daria Kasatkina won her first and only junior Grand Slam title in the girls' singles event at the French Open.

18.

Daria Kasatkina was the first Russian girl to win the event since Nadia Petrova in 1998 and helped Russia sweep both junior singles events, with fellow European 16s champion Andrey Rublev winning the boys' singles title.

19.

Daria Kasatkina earned a silver medal in doubles alongside compatriot Anastasiya Komardina.

20.

Daria Kasatkina began her professional career as a wildcard qualifying entrant at the 2013 Kremlin Cup, where she lost her only match.

21.

Daria Kasatkina again received a wildcard into the 2014 Kremlin Cup, this time for the main draw.

22.

Daria Kasatkina lost her WTA Tour debut to Alison Riske.

23.

Daria Kasatkina began 2015 ranked No 354, but steadily climbed to No 161 at the end of June on the strength of four $25K titles.

24.

Daria Kasatkina reached semifinals in singles as a qualifier, her best singles result on the WTA Tour at the time.

25.

Daria Kasatkina began the year at the Auckland Open, where she recorded her first career top ten victory against world No 7, Venus Williams.

26.

Daria Kasatkina then made her Australian Open debut and reached the third round.

27.

Daria Kasatkina defeated No 27, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, in the first round before losing to world No 1, Serena Williams.

28.

At the Indian Wells Open, Daria Kasatkina then made it to the quarterfinals at her first Premier Mandatory event.

29.

Daria Kasatkina produced one good result in doubles, a semifinals appearance at the Qatar Open with Elena Vesnina.

30.

Daria Kasatkina had two chances to serve out the match against Bertens.

31.

Daria Kasatkina continued her success at big tournaments at the Premier 5 Canadian Open, where she reached the quarterfinals.

32.

Daria Kasatkina defeated world No 8, Roberta Vinci, in the third round for her second career top ten victory.

33.

Daria Kasatkina reached the quarterfinals at both events, falling just short of the medal rounds.

34.

Daria Kasatkina lost to American Madison Keys in singles and the Czech team of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in doubles.

35.

Daria Kasatkina had needed to qualify for the main draw after forgetting to sign up for the tournament.

36.

Daria Kasatkina ended the season at a world ranking of No 27.

37.

Daria Kasatkina maintained a steady ranking throughout 2017, falling no lower than No 42 in the world and again reaching the same season-best of No 24 as 2016.

38.

Daria Kasatkina defeated fellow teenager Jelena Ostapenko in the final in straight sets.

39.

Daria Kasatkina closed out the clay-court season with another third-round appearance at the French Open, where she lost to eventual finalist and world No 4, Simona Halep.

40.

Towards the end of the year, Daria Kasatkina began having more success on hardcourts.

41.

Daria Kasatkina made her second career Premier Mandatory quarterfinal at the China Open, this time losing to Halep.

42.

Daria Kasatkina closed out the year with her second best singles result of the season, a runner-up finish at her hometown Premier tournament, the Kremlin Cup.

43.

Daria Kasatkina continued her late season success from the previous year into 2018.

44.

Daria Kasatkina's breakthrough came at Indian Wells, where she reached her second final of the season.

45.

Daria Kasatkina defeated four top-15 players at that event including Wozniacki again and No 8, Venus Williams, in a tight three-set match.

46.

Daria Kasatkina made the quarterfinals at the Charleston Open and the third round at the Premier 5 Italian Open.

47.

Daria Kasatkina had another big result at a Premier Mandatory tournament, reaching the quarterfinals at the Madrid Open.

48.

Daria Kasatkina defeated No 2, Wozniacki, for the third time in 2018 in a match that was suspended midway through due to darkness, before losing to the eventual runner-up Sloane Stephens.

49.

Daria Kasatkina failed to continue her Grand Slam success at the US Open, losing in the second round.

50.

Daria Kasatkina defeated Tunisian qualifier Ons Jabeur in the final.

51.

Daria Kasatkina was initially named the second alternate for the WTA Finals.

52.

Daria Kasatkina began the round robin with a win over Wang, but lost to Keys in a match where she had to play on a short amount of rest while Keys was playing her first match.

53.

Daria Kasatkina finished the year ranked No 10 in the world.

54.

Daria Kasatkina's results did not improve with Martinez as her coach.

55.

Daria Kasatkina did not make the semifinals at any event.

56.

Daria Kasatkina's losses were generally against good competition, with only seven of her 21 losses coming against players ranked outside of the top 50.

57.

Daria Kasatkina remained in the top 50 until the very end of the season, when she lost the points she was defending from the previous year's WTA Elite Trophy.

58.

In 2020, Daria Kasatkina first participated in Auckland, where she defeated Carla Suarez Navarro before falling to Amanda Anisimova in the second round.

59.

Daria Kasatkina defeated Natalia Vikhlyantseva in the first round, but lost to Kristina Mladenovic in the second qualifying round.

60.

Daria Kasatkina reached her first semifinal since 2018 at Lyon where, as the seventh seed, she defeated Pauline Parmentier, Irina Bara, and Camila Giorgi, before being defeated in three sets by Anna-Lena Friedsam.

61.

Daria Kasatkina withdrew from the competition as she injured herself during a first-set tiebreak against Victoria Azarenka.

62.

Daria Kasatkina recuperated in time for the French Open, where she defeated Harmony Tan in the first round, before falling to Aryna Sabalenka.

63.

Daria Kasatkina ended the year ranked No 72, her lowest year-end ranking since 2015.

64.

Daria Kasatkina started her 2021 season at the Abu Dhabi Open, where she defeated Wang Qiang in the first round in three sets.

65.

Daria Kasatkina was due to face 12th seed Karolina Muchova but the Czech withdrew, sending Kasatkina into the third round.

66.

Daria Kasatkina then played in the Gippsland Trophy and made the third round with straight sets wins over Mihaela Buzarnescu, with the loss of just two games, and Polona Hercog.

67.

Daria Kasatkina bounced back from that loss emphatically at the Phillip Island Trophy, held during the second week of the Australian Open.

68.

Daria Kasatkina defeated Katie Boulter for the second time in five days and Varvara Gracheva, in straight sets, to record back to back wins for the third time in four events that season.

69.

Daria Kasatkina then defeated Danielle Collins and Marie Bouzkova in three sets to claim her third title and first since Moscow 2018.

70.

Daria Kasatkina bounced back at the St Petersburg Ladies' Trophy, halting the winning streak of rising star Clara Tauson in the first round.

71.

Daria Kasatkina then fought hard for a three-set win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who served for the match.

72.

Daria Kasatkina then defeated wildcard Margarita Gasparyan in the final after Gasparyan was forced to retire early in the second set.

73.

Daria Kasatkina was upset by Marta Kostyuk in the second round of the Istanbul Cup before falling to Sabalenka in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open.

74.

At the French Open, Daria Kasatkina defeated 10th seed Belinda Bencic in straight sets to make the third round for the first time since 2018.

75.

Daria Kasatkina was defeated by Sorana Cirstea in straight sets.

76.

Daria Kasatkina lost in the quarterfinals of the Eastbourne International to Jelena Ostapenko after securing her first top ten win in two years over Iga Swiatek, losing just one game after dropping the opening set.

77.

Daria Kasatkina reached her fourth final of the year at the Silicon Valley Classic, beating former top ten player Caroline Garcia, in three sets before coming back to avoid the upset against Magda Linette in the quarterfinals.

78.

Daria Kasatkina then dominated top seed Elise Mertens without getting broken, but lost to home favourite Danielle Collins in the final.

79.

Daria Kasatkina's season ended with a third-round defeat at the Indian Wells Open to Angelique Kerber, in three sets and a surprising first-round exit to Anhelina Kalinina in the first round of the Kremlin Cup.

80.

Daria Kasatkina first played the Melbourne Summer Set 2, a WTA 250 event, as the third seed; here, she reached the semifinals by defeating Anna Kalinskaya, Madison Keys, and Nuria Parrizas Diaz before losing to eventual champion Amanda Anisimova.

81.

Daria Kasatkina defeated eighth seed Sofia Kenin, Elise Mertens, and second seed Garbine Muguruza, before losing to fifth seed and eventual champion Paula Badosa.

82.

Daria Kasatkina next reached the third round of the 2022 Australian Open as the 25th seed, defeating qualifier Stefanie Vogele and Magda Linette before falling to seventh seed Iga Swiatek.

83.

Daria Kasatkina lost to Angelique Kerber in Indian Wells 3rd round and to Aliaksandra Sasnovich in Miami 2nd round in receipt of first round byes.

84.

Daria Kasatkina defeated lucky loser Rebecca Sramkova, qualifier Fernanda Contreras, Shelby Rogers, and 28th seed Camila Giorgi to reach the quarterfinals, matching her best result at the tournament from 2018.

85.

Daria Kasatkina then went one step further, defeating compatriot and 29th seed Veronika Kudermetova to reach her maiden Grand Slam semifinal.

86.

Daria Kasatkina then lost in straight sets to world No 1, Iga Swiatek, for the fourth time this year.

87.

Daria Kasatkina played two tournaments on grass, Berlin and Bad Homburg; she was defeated in the quarterfinals by Maria Sakkari and Bianca Andreescu, respectively.

88.

Daria Kasatkina did not compete in the 2022 Wimbledon Championships due to the All England Club's decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

89.

Daria Kasatkina bagelled each opponent in the last set in the match.

90.

Daria Kasatkina reached back-to-back finals after defeating world No 4 and second seed, Paula Badosa.

91.

Daria Kasatkina defeated Shelby Rogers in the final, securing a WTA 500 title and returning to the top 10 in the rankings at a new career-high of world No 9 on 8 August 2022.

92.

Daria Kasatkina became tied for third in wins in the season with 32, behind only No 1 Iga Swiatek and Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur.

93.

Daria Kasatkina defeated Greet Minnen, Magdalena Frech, Nuria Parrizas Diaz, Diane Parry and Daria Saville losing just one set in route to win the title.

94.

Daria Kasatkina reached a new career-high ranking of World No 8 on 24 October 2022.

95.

At the WTA Finals, Daria Kasatkina lost to Swiatek again in her first match.

96.

Daria Kasatkina earned her first victory of the Finals against Coco Gauff in straight sets, but she couldn't advance beyond the round robin stage as she was defeated by Caroline Garcia in a close three set match.

97.

Daria Kasatkina won the dead rubber doubles match with Ekaterina Makarova against Cindy Burger and Arantxa Rus as Russia lost the tie.

98.

Daria Kasatkina participated in the World Group play-offs against Belarus two months later and played three rubbers, as Makarova and Svetlana Kuznetsova both opted to skip the tie.

99.

Daria Kasatkina won her first live rubber against Aliaksandra Sasnovich, but Russia lost all three other singles rubbers to lose the tie.

100.

Daria Kasatkina won her only singles match to set up a decisive doubles rubber.

101.

Alongside Vesnina, Daria Kasatkina lost that match to Elise Mertens and An-Sophie Mestach.

102.

Daria Kasatkina competed for Russia in 2019 during the zonal competitions, recording a win over Karen Barritza in straight sets in the only match she played throughout the week.

103.

Daria Kasatkina then beat Jil Teichmann in the final, helping Russia to secure their first title since 2008.

104.

Daria Kasatkina is a baseline player with a crafty style of play.

105.

Daria Kasatkina employs a variety of shots including heavy topspin forehands, one-handed slice backhands, kick serves, and drop shots.

106.

Daria Kasatkina has very good hands and good angles and everything.

107.

Daria Kasatkina has had a good record on all three main surfaces on the WTA Tour, winning a clay court title at the Charleston Open, winning a hard court title at the Kremlin Cup, and reaching the quarterfinals on grass at Wimbledon.

108.

When Daria Kasatkina was eleven years old, Maxim Prasolov began coaching her.

109.

Daria Kasatkina had previously sought out Dehaes as a coach in late 2013 when she visited Belgium in search of funding from a foundation that was providing financial support for one of Dehaes's junior players.

110.

Daria Kasatkina had only wanted to take a break from having a coach, but Dehaes could not accommodate being without a job.

111.

Daria Kasatkina prefers to watch men's tennis over women's tennis, saying that the players are better at serving and moving around the court.

112.

Daria Kasatkina has been sponsored by Nike, Tecnifibre and Instaforex throughout her career.

113.

Daria Kasatkina switched to Artengo racquets in 2022 after trying different racquets in a blind test.

114.

Daria Kasatkina said that she "found living in the closet impossible" and speaking out against the attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community and restrictions of rights within Russia.

115.

In that same interview, Daria Kasatkina condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, calling for an end to Russian aggression and showing solidarity with the Ukrainian people.