Daria Kasatkina Edges Mirra Andreeva to Win Ningbo Open Title

Daria Kasatkina triumphed over her close friend Mirra Andreeva to win the Ningbo Open title in China. The Russian fifth seed secured victory with a score of 6-0, 4-6, 6-4 in a match filled with ups and downs. After the match, Andreeva, 17, broke down in tears having squandered a 3-0 lead in the final set. Kasatkina comforted her friend, who joked about her tears, saying, “I really tried not to cry because I knew the pictures would be ugly, but I just couldn’t help myself.”

Kasatkina ranked world number 11 dominated the opening set with only two unforced errors. However, Andreeva fought back fiercely taking an early lead in the deciding set. But as Andreeva faltered with unforced errors, Daria Kasatkina seized the opportunity, winning five consecutive games before closing out the match. This victory marked Kasatkina’s second title of the year, following her win at Eastbourne in June.

It also represented the eighth singles title of her career. Meanwhile, Andreeva, who reached the semi-finals of the French Open this year and earned a doubles silver medal at the Paris Olympics aimed for her second career singles title. In other tennis news, American Tommy Paul captured his third men’s singles title of the season at the Nordic Open in Stockholm by defeating Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-3.

In men’s doubles, Great Britain’s Henry Patten and his Finnish partner Harri Heliovaara claimed their fourth title of the season by defeating the Czech duo of Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl 7-5, 6-3. Lastly, Sonay Kartal won the W100 ITF event in Shrewsbury when her opponent Heather Watson retired due to injury, allowing Kartal to move back into the top 100 of the WTA rankings at a career-high position of 91.