By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday August 7, 2021

 

Russia's Daria Kasatkina earned her 30th win of 2021, defeating Belgium's Elise Mertens to reach the final at San Jose.

Photo Source: Getty

Daria Kasatkina is in the midst of a revival in 2021, and it continues at the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic where the Russian has reached her fourth final of 2021 by defeating top-seeded Elise Mertens, 6-3, 6-2 in 82 minutes.



“I think I played a pretty solid match from the beginning to the end,” Kasatkina said. “The match was really tense, we were having really close games and I’m happy that at the end I was maybe a little bit better in the important points.”

Kastakina notches her 30th win of 2021 (30-12) and sets a final with Danielle Collins, who earned her ninth consecutive victory by topping Croatia's Ana Konjuh, 6-0, 6-2.

Kasatkina’s 30 wins this season match her total from 2019 (12-21) and 2020 (18-14) combined.

“After the troubles I faced in the previous years I feel much better now,” Kasatkina said. “I want to keep this feeling as long as possible. I’m enjoying winning and being on the court – even tough matches – it’s a big joy compared to what I was experiencing in 2019 and 2020 so now I really appreciate the moment I’m in.”

Kasatkina has now won three straight contests against Top-20 competition, and four of five. She served magnificently against Mertens on Saturday, winning 33 of 40 first serve points and saving the only break point she faced.

On the other side of the ball Kasatkina dominated, earning 14 break points against the Word No. 17 as she won 42 percent of her first serve return points (16 of 38) and broke three times to win convincingly.

The 25-year-old Russian improves to 18-4 on hard courts this season.