Sixth-seeded Daria Kasatkina cruised to a 6-3, 6-4 win over 11th-seeded Magda Linette of Poland to advance to the semifinals of the WTA Elite Trophy on Thursday in Zhuhai, China.
Kasatkina recorded 24 winners overall and won 16 of the last 18 points on Linette’s serve to win the match in 2 hours, 9 minutes. The Russian rests atop the Azalea Group with a 2-0 record after defeating top-seeded Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic in her first round-robin match. Krejcikova and Linette have been eliminated.
No. 3 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia posted a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over No. 10 Donna Vekic of Croatia in 1-hour, 56 minutes. Ostapenko had 37 winners against 31 unforced errors to set up a clash in the Orchid Group against Chinese player Zheng Qinwen, who toppled the now-eliminated Vekic in her first match.
Also on Thursday, fourth-seeded Russian Liudmila Samsonova overcame a first-set misstep to secure a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over China’s Zhu Lin in a Rose Group match. Samsonova can punch her ticket to the semifinals with a win Friday against countrywoman and No. 5 seed Veronika Kudermetova.
–Field Level Media