Daria Kasatkina
8th seed Daria Kasatkina takes on Russian qualifier Varvara Gracheva in the round of 32 of the 2023 Indian Wells on Monday.
The Russian No. 1 finished runner-up in the Adelaide International 2 in January but hasn’t been able to put on a noteworthy performance since then. She came into Indian Wells after being ousted in the round of 32 by eventual champion Barbora Krejcikova.
After receiving a bye into the second round, Kasatkina eased past Tatjana Maria in straight sets 6-2, 6-1. Kasatkina converted 7 out of 13 break points in the match. Maria committed 6 double faults and that didn’t help her cause. Kasatkina will take a lot of confidence from this win as she hasn’t been in great form as of late.
The 22-year-old came into the tournament on the back of a run to the finals in the ATX Open. In the first two rounds of qualifying, Gracheva defeated Petra Marcinko and Anna-Lena Friedsam.
Gracheva is yet to drop a set in the main draw of the tournament. She outplayed Ysaline Bonaventure in the round of 128, winning the match 6-2, 6-2. Gracheva converted 4 out of 7 break points in this encounter and had a win percentage of 76 on the first serve. In the round of 64, Gracheva stunned 25th seed Petra Martic and won the match 6-3, 6-2. The youngster’s serve wasn’t broken during the match.
The head-to-head scoreline is intriguingly poised at 1-1. Gracheva annihilated Kasatkina in their most recent encounter in the first round of the 2023 Australian Open, winning the match 6-1, 6-1.
Prediction: Varvara Gracheva to win in three sets.
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