THERE were plenty of upsets to pick from on the latest day at the Ostrava Open, though the three-set win by 75th ranked Russian qualifier Daria Kasatkina against top 20 talent Elena Rybakina might have been the pick of the bunch. The 23-year-old Russian has achieved a lot more than many might expect of her in her career, winning two career WTA Tour titles and winning more than $6 million USD. Despite this, not many expected her to topple arguably the most in-form player of 2020 with the Kazakhstan 21-year-old Rybakina having made five finals this year, winning one.

The match lasted an hour and 52 minutes with Kasatkina getting up over the sixth seed in Ostrava, 6-2 3-6 6-3 to book her spot in the next round. Given 14cm stands between them with the 170cm Russian not known for her power, whilst the opposite could be said for Rybakina, Kasatkina had a consistent serving efficiency of 73 per cent, winning 62 per cent off her first serve. Rybakina still broke five times during the match, but it was Kasatkina’s ability to punish her younger opponent off both the first and second serves, winning 51 and 56 per cent respectively against her opponent. That effort culminated in seven breaks from 12 chances in 13 return games and earned the underdog a memorable, hard-fought win.

Coming into the match everyone knew the pair would be counter contrasting styles, but indeed it was the consistent counterpunching of Kasatkina that got the job done. Producing 15 winners and only 14 unforced errors, the conservative talent was happy to weather a barrage of powerful shots from Rybakina, who hit 35 winners, but also a high 49 unforced errors. The Russian said she knew how she could reduce the damage and get the win.

“I can say that I beat her with tactics,” Kasatkina said post-match. “At the beginning I was trying to play a bit more aggressive to move her – but she was the one who started to move me. “During the match I changed the plan of my game and it worked out very well.”

Kasatkina will now face off against another in-form player in American Jennifer Brady who upset Dayana Yastremska. Whilst Brady is technically ranked three places higher – 26th to 29th – the Ukrainian was favourite heading into the match given her talent and overall ability. Brady’s form – which included a run to the US Open semi-finals that propelled her into the top 30 – has been undeniable this year, and she got it done again in just over two hours with a 3-6 7-6 6-1 victory, storming away with the win in the final set.

Powering her way to victory with 12 aces and winning 77 per cent of her first serve points, Brady was dominant after the first set with eight aces and only one double fault coming in the next two. Yastremska was inconsistent off serve, though she did break Brady three times which helped her win the first set and have a chance at the second set before dropping the tiebreak in an agonising 8-6. The American was too strong from there, going on with it and joining fellow American, Coco Gauff in the second round at Ostrava.

Gauff had to come through qualifying in this event, but the 16-year-old booked her place in the Round of 16 with a 7-5 6-4 triumph over Katerina Siniakova. Gauff is ranked 10 places higher than Siniakova – 55th to 65th – but has been a little inconsistent in 2020 which is what to expect from someone having only just been allowed to tour more permanently this year. In 95 minutes, the Delray Beach local won 7-5 6-4, breaking five times from 11 chance to her opponents’ three from five. Gauff had more power off her racquet but again was hit and miss with seven faults to her two aces, and only won 29 per cent of her points off her second serve. She was strong enough off her first though, winning a crucial break in the second set for it to be the different and move through to face third seed Aryna Sabalenka in the next round.

The other three matches completed during the day were very one side, with the closest encounter being a 73-minute victory to Russian qualifier, Veronika Kudermetova who toppled Croatian world number 31, Donna Vekic. Kudermetova won 6-2 6-4 to make her way through to the next round. Meanwhile fellow Czech, Karolina Muchova had somewhere to be finishing off Chinese talent Shuai Zhang in 59 minutes, winning 6-1 6-1, whilst the other Czech involved in a one-sided contest – Barbora Strycova – was on the receiving end, bowing out to Tunisian Ons Jabeur, 6-2 6-2 in 74 minutes.

Tomorrow the final three first round matches take to the court during the day session with Amanda Anisimova taking on seventh seed Elise Mertens and Latvian qualifier Jelena Ostapenko locking horns with Croatian Petra Martic in two classic contests. Fourth seed Victoria Azarenka also meets Czech qualifier Barbora Krejcikova, whilst second round matches begin at night with top seed Elina Svitolina playing her first match against Greek talent Maria Sakkari, whilst eighth seed Anett Kontaveit meets Spanish qualifier Sara Sorribes Tormo.

Picture: Jimmie48/WTA