WHAT HAPPENED: Six years ago, Daria Kasatkina reached Round 4 of the US Open as an unseeded 20-year-old in the early days of her professional career. She'd never gone that deep since.
Until now. As the No. 13 seed, now a former Top 10 player and a major semifinalist, she's back: Kasatkina was a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Belgian qualifier Greet Minnen on Court 17 Saturday to return to the last 16 in New York City.
Minnen, too, matched her best US Open performance at these championships, having beaten Venus Williams emphatically in Round 1 and Sachia Vickery in a marathon Round 2. And over the first six games of the match, she stayed even with the former world No. 8, too: The Belgian saved a break point in the fourth game, and two more in the sixth.
From there, Kasatkina won eight of the next nine, and even had a match point to finish off in style. But in the end, she battled her way over the line, as the match's last four games extended well past deuce. Minnen broke serve for the first time in the match in the eighth game of the second set, and in all, Kasatkina needed four match points to win.
After two more chances to win slipped by in the 10th game, Kasatkina also saved a break point that would've seen Minnen get even at 5-5.
WHAT IT MEANS: Kasatkina will be the next opponent for No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka, who looked imperious in her own 6-1, 6-1 win over France's Clara Burel.
Kasatkina trails Sabalenka in their overall head-to-head, 4-2, but in an interesting twist, both of Kasatkina's wins have come on Sabalenka's favored surface (hard courts) instead of her own preferred clay.
That head-to-head history has the No. 2 seed, who has a chance to take the world No. 1 ranking from Iga Swiatek if she outperforms her at this tournament, firmly focused on the challenge that Kasatkina poses.
"Always tricky matches against her," Sabalenka assessed. "She's playing great tennis. Moving really well. Trying to get everything she can back. ... I feel like I have to be focused and I don't have to overrush things against her. I just have to stay calm and just wait for the opportunity and take it."
MATCH POINT: Kasatkina is bidding for her fourth career Grand Slam quarterfinal, and first on hard.
