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By Tennis Now | Wednesday, October 18, 2017

 
Daria Kasatkina

On a day in which four seeds fell, Daria Kasatkina reached the Moscow quarterfinals for the third straight year.

Photo credit: Wuhan Open Facebook

On a day when the top two seeds—Kristina Mladenovic and CoCo Vandeweghe—were ousted from the Kremlin Cup, Daria Kasatkina moved forward in Moscow.

The top-seeded Mladenovic’s meltdown continued as she suffered her 10th consecutive defeat.

Watch: A Closer Look at Elite Eight

Aliaksandra Sasnovich exploited 16 double faults from Mladenovic in a 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 victory.




The 100th-ranked Sasnovich scored her first Top 20 win since she defeated world No. 6 Karolina Pliskova in the Tokyo round of 16 in September, 2016.

Meanwhile, Mladenovic’s downward spiral continues.

The 13th-ranked Frenchwoman has not won a match since August. Seven of her last 10 losses have come to opponents ranked outside the Top 50. Mladenovic has dropped 20 of her last 21 sets.

Sasnovich advanced to her third quarterfinal of the season where she will face Kasatkina.

The 20th-ranked Russian dissected Katerina Siniakova, 6-2, 6-3, surging into her third straight Moscow quarterfinal.




Kasatkina converted five of 17 break points and won eight of 10 trips to net in an 80-minute victory. Kasatkina has won two of three meetings with Sasnovich, including a 6-4, 6-2 sweep in Cincinnati in August.

Lesia Tsurenko defeated the second-seeded Vandeweghe, 7-5, 1-6, 6-2.

US Open semifinalist Vandeweghe betrayed her own cause committing 48 unforced errors.




Tsurenko conceded she contemplated retiring, but remained committed to the cause.

“I am surprised, that after calling doctor on the court and catching my breath a bit, I won,” Tsurenko said. “I was thinking all match long about retiring. But I like to play here, though it’s the end of the season already, and my leg hurts a bit. We will see what happens next.”

Next up for the 50th-ranked Ukrainian is a quarterfinal date with Julia Goerges.

The seventh-seeded Goerges pounded out a 6-3, 6-3, decision over Yulia Putintseva. Tsurenko has beaten the German in three of four prior matches, including a gripping 6-7 (5), 7-6 (8), 6-4 decision at Wimbledon earlier this year.

“I played her many times,” Tsurenko said. “Each match was tough. She and Coco have similar playing style, they both have a powerful serve or play slices and don't let you feel the rhythm.”

Nineteen-year-old Vera Lapko held a 6-3, 3-1 lead over Daria Gavrilova when the sixth-seeded Aussie retired after 68 minutes. Lapko will play Irina-Camelia Begu for a semifinal spot.

Begu beat fourth-seeded Anastasija Sevastova, 6-4, 6-3.


 

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