Heartbreaking. A lower back injury forced world No.126 Margarita Gasparyan to retire from the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy final and hand the title to eighth seed Daria Kasatkina, who has become the first Russian champion at the tournament and the first WTA player to clinch two titles in 2021.
The 26-year-old Gasparyan took a medical timeout at 1-4 in the first set and even though the wildcard managed to finish the set, she called it quits early in the second set as Kasatkina led 6-3 2-1. Despite this devastating end to a spectacular week, Gasparyan can look forward to a return to the Top 100.
The world No.61 Kasatkina ended qualifier Clara Tauson’s 13-match winning streak to kick off her campaign at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy, then came out victorious in a tight three-set battle against Aliaksandra Sasnovich, took out second seed Veronika Kudermetova in the quarterfinals, defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in the semis for the 100th main-draw victory on hard court, and wrapped the week by winning her fourth career title against Margarita Gasparyan.
(photos: Jimmie48)
Congratulations to Daria. She has won two tournaments so far this year and seems to be making a comeback. Too bad for Margarita; love her one handed backhand, which is rare in the WTA. And the trophy presentation was a spectacular show!