#DariaKasatkina’s struggles continued to bother her in 2019 — and her slump goes on with a poor 2-6, 1-6 loss to the powerful #MarketaVondrousova in the second round of the #BNPParibasOpen after just an hour and 11 minutes of action. Vondrousova moves into the third round for the second successive year, where she will face 22nd seed Jelena Ostapenko.
The Russian, who reached the final at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden last year with consecutive wins over Stephens, Wozniacki, Kerber, Venus, was just living in the shadow of her confident self. The confidence she used to possess has completely vanished and although there were positive signs at the start of this match, she failed to keep up the level throughout the match.
Both players struggled in the tough conditions with the strong winds affecting the serves and the direction of their shots. Vondrousova was unable to utilize all her power due to the wind but played some extremely smart tennis to overpower and outsmart the crafty Kasatkina, who is still in the midst of finding her confidence.
Kasatkina won just half of her first serves but certainly struggled behind her second deliveries by winning just 44 percent of those points. Vondrousova was untouchable on her powerful serves; saving the sole break point she faced and losing just 15 points on serve throughout the match.
Both players had a shaky start as they needed time to adapt to the tricky conditions — Kasatkina found herself in some deep trouble as her second serves were being exposed by Vondrousova. Nonetheless, the Czech returned some gifts with a series of unforced errors, ultimately allowing the Russian to get onto the scoreboard after a smash went beyond the baseline.
After consecutive holds to start the match with, Vondrousova called for a coach for an on-court coaching session while being 3-2 up, and the dynamics of the match completely changed since that moment. Dictating play with her forehand, the Czech youngster was able to move Kasatkina all around the court by mixing in dropshots as well, and despite the Russian’s efforts it was tough to handle the pace of the baseline rallies.
Losing four consecutive games, Kasatkina found herself closer to yet another defeat as she conceded the first set 2-6 to the inspired Vondrousova after just 35 minutes of play.
The start of the second set was akin to the first — with a glimpse of hope appearing in Kasatkina’s game but it ultimately faded towards the end of the match. The fourth game was pivotal in deciding the outcome of the match as Vondrousova managed to prevail in a marathon 14-point game which saw her converting on her fifth break point.
Kasatkina earned the golden opportunity to break straight back but failed to capitalize on her only break point in the match as Vondrousova consolidated her lead. Eight of the last 10 points went in favour of the hard-hitting Czech as she seemed to be in a rush — claiming the emphatic 6-2, 6-1 win over Kasatkina after just 71 minutes of play.
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