Daria Kasatkina defeated fellow Russian Veronika Kudermetova 6-4 7-6(5) to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal at the French Open.
The 29th-seeded Kudermetova started the match with a 3-1 lead, against the player who had conceded only 14 games and had been broken only twice en route to the 2022 Roland Garros quarterfinals. The lead was short-lived, as the 20th-seeded Kasatkina promptly leveled and then won two straight games from 4-4 to take the first set in 50 minutes.
In the second set, Kudermetova recovered from a break down three times, including when Kasatkina served for victory at 5-4, and saved multiple break points to lead 6-5. The set progressed into a tiebreak, which Kasatkina won on her fifth match point.
The 25-year-old Kasatkina has won 23 matches so far this season, equalling Amanda Anisimova, while only Iga Swiatek (39), Ons Jabeur (25) and Paula Badosa (24) have won more.
Next up for Kasatkina will be the winner of the upcoming quarterfinal between world No.1 Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula. Women’s singles semifinal pair in the bottom half of the draw was determined on Tuesday: 18th seed Coco Gauff vs. Martina Trevisan.
