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Match Details
Fixture: (8) Daria Kasatkina vs (20) Jelena Ostapenko
Date: Monday, May 15.
Tournament: Italian Open 2023.
Round: Fourth Round (Round of 16).
Venue: Foro Italico, Rome, Italy.
Category: WTA 1000.
Surface: Outdoor clay.
Prize money: €7,705,780.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video.
Daria Kasatkina vs Jelena Ostapenko preview
Eighth seed Daria Kasatkina will face 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko in the fourth round of the Italian Open.
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Kasatkina received a bye to the second round of the WTA 1000 event by virtue of being one of the seeded players and started the tournament with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Lisa Pigato. She then faced Austria's Julia Grabher in the third round and won a tightly-contested opening set 7-5.
The 26-year-old bounced back in the second set and won it 6-4 to force the match into a decider. Kasatkina had a match point in the 10th game of the final set, but Grabher saved it and took the set to a tie-breaker. The Russian won it 7-2 to book her place in the fourth round of the Italian Open.
Jelena Ostapenko was seeded 20th at the Italian Open and thus received a bye to the second round. Here, the Latvian faced Sorana Cirstea and started the match strongly by taking the opening set 6-3. The Romanian roared back in the second set and won it by the same scoreline to take the match into a decider.
Ostapenko dominated the third set and won it 6-2 to book her place in the third round. Here, she was up against 10th seed Barbora Krejcikova and the opening set was tightly contested. The Latvian won the ensuing tie-break to take the lead in the match.
She found momentum and produced a dominant display in the second set to win it 6-0 and seal her place in the fourth round of the Italian Open.
Daria Kasatkina vs Jelena Ostapenko head-to-head
Ostapenko currently leads 4-2 in the head-to-head against Kasatkina. The last match between the two took place in the second round of the 2021 Wimbledon Championships, with the Latvian winning 6-1, 3-6, 8-6.
Daria Kasatkina vs Jelena Ostapenko odds
All odds are sourced from BETMGM.
Daria Kasatkina vs Jelena Ostapenko prediction
Kasatkina may be the higher-ranked player but Ostapenko's current run of form is relatively better. Either way, the match promises to be one to watch out for.
Kasatkina won 69 out of 111 points on her first serve in her match against Grabher, but her second serve was comparatively shaky, winning only nine points out of 19. The Russian served four double faults during the match and will be eager to serve better against Ostapenko.
Kasatkina is a solid defensive player who is capable of doing very well on clay. The Russian's style is the complete opposite of Ostapenko's aggressive, hard-hitting style. The Latvian was very strong on her first serve during her match against Krejcikova, winning 21 out of 28 points.
Her second serve wasn't bad either, as she won 14 points out of 24. That said, the Latvian did serve four double faults and cannot afford to serve too many of those against Kasatkina.
The match promises to be an exciting prospect and either player would have a fair chance of winning. However, Kasatkina does well on clay and should be able to get the better of Ostapenko because of her defensive skills.
Pick: Kasatkina to win in three sets.
