Women’s Semifinal: [37] Laura Siegemund (GER) vs. [42] Daria Kasatkina (RUS)
Siegemund drop shotted her way to this point and she was not about to change her game plan today. It takes confidence to stick with your plan, especially when the results are not always positive; however, the drop shot is the weapon she felt most comfortable with and she would win or lose with it. Kasatkina had the 3:0 lead going into this match, but came out rather nervous and played tentatively. Siegemund may have had a few nervous moments, but she regrouped faster than her opponent and took advantage of Kasatkina’s protracted nervous state to win the first set.
It is always interesting to see how players get motivated to beat much higher ranked players; yet, struggle to beat someone closer to their rank and sometimes even those lower in rank. She has beaten Angelique Kerber, the number one ranked player, two of the three times they have played. Yet, today Kasatkina was thrown off initially by the prospect of making her first career singles WTA Tour final.
Siegemund was bidding for the third singles final of her career. It’s hard to fully prepare for the emotional impact of achieving a much desired goal, while the anticipation may inspire some players to play with focus and accuracy; a large number of players are so nervous, their feet stop moving followed by the inability to execute their shots. Thus, while Kasatkina had the winning record against her opponent, she was unprepared for the negative effect of fear on her game, but showed her mental resolve when she battled back to defeat Siegemund 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 and get to her first career WTA Tour singles final.
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