The Cincinnati Open continues this week as Daria Kasatkina faces Taylor Townsend while Iga Swiatek goes up against Marta Kostyuk in a round of 32 and round 16 clash. Damien Kayat previews.
2024 ATP Tour – WTA 1000
Cincinnati Open
Lindner Family Tennis Centre
Selected Ro 32/16 matches – 15-16 August
Round of 32 – 15 August
Daria Kasatkina 6/10 | Taylor Townsend 13/10
This has been a real boom or bust season for Russian Daria Kasatkina. The former Indian Wells finalist has reached an impressive four finals this calendar year, winning her seventh career title at the Eastbourne International.
But she has only reached one quarterfinal outside of those results! Moreover, Kasatkina has struggled in the elite events all season long, failing to go beyond the third round of a slam or the 4th round of a WTA 1000 event.
She also came into this event in pretty dire recent form, going out at the first hurdle in Washington and Toronto. She did manage to break her three-match losing streak with an impressive straight-set win over Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Kasatkina hit 28 winners in a resounding victory, winning a highly creditable 76% of her first-serve points. She did serve eight double faults and may need to iron out those serving issues as the tournament progresses.
She has a dismal record in this event, being eliminated in the first round in five of her previous eight appearances.
The 28-year-old Taylor Townsend overcame a somewhat jittery performance to see off Caroline Dolehide in her opener. The American lefty dropped the first set but showed admirable courage to claw her way back into proceedings.
Her booming lefty serve came to the rescue as she ultimately served seven aces and won 74% of her first-serve points. Townsend had huge struggles with her weight in the early portion of her career but she finally appears to have found a balance between power and mobility.
She is fresh off one of the best weeks of her career, reaching her maiden WTA 1000 quarterfinal as a lucky loser in Toronto. She thrashed Jelena Ostapenko in the round of 16 and then pushed Emma Navarro in a tight straight-sets defeat.
She also enjoyed some true Grand Slam success this season, winning the Wimbledon doubles crown playing alongside Katerina Siniakova. Townsend is a bit of a nostalgic throwback, employing serve-and-volley tactics that can wrongfoot some opponents.
The Verdict: Kasatkina to win in three sets 33/10
Kasatkina leads the head-to-head 2-0, comfortably beating the American in both of their previous meetings (both of which came on North American hardcourts).
This could be tighter, with Townsend playing with much more confidence of late. Townsend has been a bit more judicious with her recent approach play, not simply coming to the net for no reason.
Her style- if well executed- could destabilise the baseline-hugging Kasatkina. Still, the Russian will be able to decode the Townsend puzzle in the end.
Round of 16 – 16 August
Iga Swiatek 1/16 | Marta Kostyuk 15/2
Iga Swiatek improved her phenomenal 2024 record to 48-5 with a slightly insane three-set win against Varvara Gracheva. She bageled the Frenchwoman in the first set but lost a nervy second set tiebreak.
She stormed back in the decider to win her 48th match of the season. Overall, it was a solid display from the Pole. She won 74% of her first-serve points (serving seven aces in the process).
I think she will just be glad to get through her first post-Olympics match. She was left visibly upset after losing to Qinwen Zheng in the Olympics and it took some time for her to return to action.
She skipped Toronto last week and this is one of the few WTA 1000 events that she is yet to win. She has been nothing short of miraculous at the WTA 1000 level this season, winning all four of her final appearances to help create a lovely cushion at the top of the world rankings.
She will be looking for a strong North American showing this week as she builds towards the US Open.
Marta Kostyuk is in the middle of a career-best campaign, improving her 2024 record to 29-15 with a straight-sets win over Lulu Son. She actually struggled in her opening match against ultra-athletic Elise Mertens.
But she looked more authoritative against Son, winning 71% of her first-serve points and 59% of her 2nd serve return points. Kostyuk has enjoyed a fabulous campaign, reaching a maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Aussie Open.
She picked up runner-up finishes in San Diego and Stuttgart and she also had a brilliant semifinal run at Indian Wells. She reached the quarters in Toronto last week, going down to Emma Navarro in a tight three-set quarterfinal.
Kostyuk has struggled against the top players on hardcourts, with that Navarro defeat taking her 2024 hardcourt record against top-20 players to 1-5.
The Verdict: Swiatek to win in straight sets 24/100
Swiatek predictably leads the head-to-head 2-0, soundly beating the Ukrainian in both their previous meetings. In fact, she absolutely thrashed Kostyuk 6-2, 6-1 at Indian Wells this year. Kostyuk tends to wilt against the more powerful hitters on slick surfaces.
I unfortunately can’t come up with much to say here. Swiatek will want to reassert her dominance after dropping that 2nd set against Gracheva and Kostyuk will unfortunately be on the receiving end of that.
