There had been not much to do for Sara Errani. The last Italian survived in the women’s singles draw of Rio Summer Olympics (after the first round exits of doubles partner Roberta Vinci and Karin Knapp) had been forced to surrender in two battled sets to the shots of Daria Kasatkina. The Russian teenager overcame a very close first set to find the lead in the second, and with a solid play on serve and returns (which she struggled to find during the opener) she found a straight-set win and advanced to the quarterfinals of her first Olympics.
7-5, 6-2 is the final score; despite today’s loss, Sara Errani will still have a chance to advance in the tournament, competing in the doubles draw. She and Roberta Vinci will meet the Czech Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova (who had defeated the three-time gold medalists Venus and Serena Williams in the first round) in the quarterfinals.
A long, battled set sees the Russian rising star eventually prevail
All the first set had been a long, close battle on every point, with none of the players able to be solid on their own serve, and Errani’s good defense able to face Kasatkina’s attacks on the lines. The Russian conceded more chances to her opponent (9, to Errani’s 6), but had also been able to save seven of them and win three to her opponent, showing a very solid play on the most important points of the match.
0-40 down in the opening game, the Russian immediately showed her fighting spirit, claiming five points in a row to hold to start the match, taking important points with unreachable drop-shot winners. She went ahead to broke Errani’s serve, and then she saved two more break points and gained a chance to hold, thanks to three backhand errors in a row from her opponent. She forced Errani to cover all the court in defense and then closed with a smash, holding to a 3-0 lead.
The Italian, who didn’t lack fighting spirit too, didn’t make Kasatkina wait for her response; she held her own serve to reduce the disadvantage, and then played aggressively on Kasatkina’s serve, finally converting a break point with a well-controlled rally. She held her serve to love to eventually level off the set.
Both players set up good defenses on their serves, with Errani chasing every ball and the Russian keeping looking for the lines to close out points. The Italian took the lead for the first time in a very delicate moment, battling to force the Russian into a very long game on serve and reading her game to convert the first break point she gained. With that, she secured a 5-4 lead, and the chance to serve for the set. Chance she wasted right away, suffering Kasatkina’s attack and letting her take the break back right after.
The second to last game resulted in the longest of the entire match; Errani had two more chances to break, but failed to convert both of them; in the end, after many chances missed from her too, Kasatkina managed to hold for a 6-5 lead; which resulted in a crucial hold. Despite saving two set points while she was serving to stay in the set, Errani couldn’t convert her only chance to hold; obtained a third set point with a forehand winner, Kasatkina converted it the same way, closing the first set 7-5 after a battle that lasted more than an hour.
A more solid on serve Kasatkina attacks to win the match
The second set showed a Kasatkina more in focus, hitting less errors than she did in the first set and becoming more determined with her serve. The set didn’t start in her favor as she hit a forehand out to immediately drop her serve, but she confirmed a solid game on return, painting the lines to level the game off right away. A couple of good first serves helped the Russian in her way to hold; she kept hitting deep shots to break Errani again and secure a 3-1 lead.
Once again, Errani immediately reacted, dictating the rhythm of the rallies and hitting a drop shot to win the break right back. She still struggled to face Kasatkina’s deep shots on the line and lost her serve again to 15.
The Russian didn’t lose her focus; she performed a solid hold for a 5-2 lead and the chance to serve out the match but eventually didn’t need that. Errani couldn’t find herself solid enough on her following serve; two match points down, she saved the first, but couldn’t reach the last forehand down the line from the Russian, who didn’t waste time to close the second set 6-2 and book her spot into the last eight.
Kasatkina showed to be equally solid on returns during this second set, but a better performance with her first serve (still important for her, with a still-too-weak second serve) helped her to build better points, and making more difficult for Errani to play aggressively on her service games. The Italian still showed a good capacity to read the game and conduct points, but she was often forced to run all-court in defense by Kasatkina’s deep shots and dragged into easy errors.
Daria Kasatkina will meet seventh seed Madison Keys for a chance to compete for the medals.