Daria Kasatkina battles past Petra Kvitova to advance to Adelaide 2 semifinals

World No.8 Daria Kasatkina was forced to produce some of her best tennis on Thursday at the Adelaide International II, fighting past Petra Kvitova to reach the semifinals.

Kasatkina was efficient in her 6-3 7-6(3) victory over the two-time Grand Slam champion, relying on her consistent placement to wear out the former World No.2. Furthermore, Kasatkina applied pressure to a weak second serve by her opponent, winning 8 out of 9 of those points as she escaped with the opening set.

Not one to be intimidated, Kvitova rallied back in the second set. Both ladies exchanged breaks, as the Czech star improved her second serve percentage. With neither competitor willing to give in, a tiebreak ensued that saw Kasatkina ultimately wear out her older opponent. The Russian No.1 obtained a minibreak, before closing out the match after an hour and 32 minutes.

The fifth seed advances to the semifinals, where she will face the winner between Spaniard Paula Badosa and 11th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia.