Cleveland 2021: Daria Kasatkina vs Magda Linette preview, head-to-head & prediction | Tennis in the Land

Match details

Fixture: (1) Daria Kasatkina vs (6) Magda Linette

Date: 26 August 2021

Tournament: Tennis in the Land 2021

Round: Quarterfinal

Venue: Cleveland, United States

Category: WTA 250

Surface: Outdoor hardcourt

Prize money: $235,238

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video

Daria Kasatkina vs Magda Linette preview

Daria Kasatkina and Magda Linette will lock horns in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Tennis in the Land event in Cleveland on Thursday. This will be a rematch of their last-eight clash in San Jose earlier this month.

Kasatkina, the top seed in Cleveland, needed three sets to overcome American teenager Caty McNally in her last match. The Russian lost the first set, but staged a comeback to prevail 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 after an hour and 55 minutes.

Linette will be looking to avenge her loss in San Jose.

Linette also faced a stern test from Czech Republic teenager Linda Fruhvirtova in the previous round. The Pole managed to win an intense opening set in a tiebreaker before growing in confidence and closing out a straight-sets win.

Linette will be looking to avenge her loss to Kasatkina in San Jose earlier this month.

Daria Kasatkina vs Magda Linette head-to-head

Daria Kasatkina and Magda Linette split their two previous meetings, so their current head-to-head stands at a 1-1 deadlock. While Linette took their first meeting in straight sets back in 2018, Kasatkina pulled level with her victory in San Jose.

Daria Kasatkina vs Magda Linette prediction

Kasatkina has reached three WTA finals on hardcourts this year.

Daria Kasatkina has been in top form this season and will enter this contest as the firm favorite. The Russian's versatile game works well on the North American hardcourts, but she will still need to be wary of Magda Linette's power.

The Pole has had her fair share of success in the US over the past few years; she won the title at the Bronx Open a couple of years ago and has the sort of game that is tailor-made for hardcourts.

Linette has also benefitted greatly from her recent coaching change. The 29-year-old joined hands with Dawid Celt earlier this year and has put together solid runs at major events since.

She was a little slow out of the blocks against Fruhvirtova in the previous round, but was able to raise her game - especially on serve - in the big moments.

Kasatkina will look to take control of the rallies from the get-go and the onus will be on Linette to try and find answers. The Pole does have a few weapons of her own, in particular a much-improved serve and backhand, and will need them to fire to avoid getting pushed back behind the baseline.

This could go down to the wire, but we expect the top seed to walk away with the win.

Prediction: Daria Kasatkina to win in three sets