Home » Silicon Valley Classic: Daria Kasatkina returns for the grand finale in San Jose

On Sunday in San Jose, Shelby Rogers and Daria Kasatkina will compete for the Silicon Valley Classic championship. Both athletes won their respective semi-finals on Saturday in straight sets. Veronika Kudermetova was defeated by Rogers, the final American in the competition, 6-3, 6-4, in one hour and twenty minutes.

Rogers’ ninth-seeded player won the match with five aces and four double faults, while Rogers had one ace and one double fault each. The 29-year-old unseeded competitor won 72% of the points she earned off of her first serves, compared to the other’s 55%.

While Kudermetova dropped her serve twice throughout the match, Rogers was able to breach it five times. It’s Rogers’ first championship in more than six years. At the 2016 Rio Open, she lost her most recent final. Amazing,” stated Rogers following the game.

You want to hold this position every single week. For this, we practice. Even though you make sacrifices and put in the effort, it is satisfying to watch everything come together. I think this is one of my favorite tour weeks so far.

That speaks volumes about why my game is strong.

Silicon Valley Classic: A rekindled rivalry between Daria Kasatkina and Shelby Rogers

The second-seeded Paula Badosa was defeated by Rogers’ fellow finalist, Daria Kasatkina, in their matchup in the semifinals.

Seventh seed took one hour and 22 minutes to complete a 6-2, 6-4 triumph. She is competing in the WTA event’s final for the second year in a row. She had lost the title match to Danielle Collins in 2021. In contrast to the Spaniard, who won 60% of her first-serve points, Kasatkina won 70% of them.

She had 11 victories and 11 unforced errors overall in the game. Badosa finished the match with five more victories than her opponent, but she also finished with 19 more unforced mistakes. For the duration of the match, Kasatkina converted five of the nine break points she had on Badosa’s serve while saving all but five of the seven break points she faced.

Shelby Rogers and Daria Kasatkina will face off against one other in the Silicon Valley Classic final for the third time. Both players have split their prior meetings equally, with the latter opponent winning their most recent encounter in the third round of the 2022 French Open.