Are you ready for the All-Russian Final at the 2024 Ningbo Open? Daria Kasatkina and Mirra Andreeva reached the final of this tournament following SF retirements from their opponents on Saturday. Kasatkina is now in her sixth singles final of the year. Speaking about her consistency in this season, she said, “It feels great that I was able to go through this season very consistent, and so far healthy and stuff. It’s something that I appreciate so much.” Can she beat her 17-year-old compatriot and bring home her second title in this season?

Daria Kasatkina vs Mirra Andreeva: Preview

Daria Kasatkina has played outstanding tennis this season. She won the title at Eastbourne International and has also made quite a few deep runs in her previous tournaments. In this tournament, she beat the Czech Republic’s Katerina Siniakova in the R16 by three sets. Then in the QF, Daria Kasatkina yet again took three sets to beat Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva. However, in the SF, she didn’t have to put in similar efforts as Paula Badosa gave her a walkover at 6-4 (in favor of the Russian) due to dizziness.

On the other hand, Mirra Andreeva also won a title this year at the IASI Open. Apart from that, she hasn’t yet won a title this season. In this tournament, she defeated America’s Varvara Lepchenko by 6-2,6-0 in the R32 match. Then in the R16 she yet again took two sets to beat her German opponent, Tamara Korpatsch. It was followed by two walkovers, Barbora Krejcikova gave her a walkover in the QF match during the second set. While Karolina Muchova (CZE) gave Mirra Andreeva a walkover at 6-2,1-0 in favor of the Russian in the semis. Can Andreeva beat Kasatkina? “(Kasatkina) is a fighter, she’s won her last matches fighting. And of course, I think we’re kind of good buddies, so that’s going to be a hard match mentally and physically as well,” said Andreeva.

Kasatkina vs Andreeva: Head-to-Head

Daria Kasatkina hasn’t yet faced Mirra Andreeva in her career. So, currently, their Head-to-Head record is at 0-0. By looking at their form in this season, we can expect a cracker of a match in Ningbo!

Prediction: Kasatkina to win this match in three sets

Daria Kasatkina looks most likely to win this contest. Her consistency in this season is one of the main reasons for this pick. Apart from that, she is currently ranked 11th in the world and has a win-loss record of 38-21. Now, if we look at her opponent, Mirra Andreeva is ranked 19th in the women’s singles ranking and she has a win-loss record of 34-15.

However, Mirra Andreeva is one of the brightest stars in women’s tennis at the moment. Her excellence at this young age has truly been quite exceptional. Her powerful groundstrokes along with exceptional agility and strategic thinking have captivated audiences and garnered the attention of the tennis world. Andreeva’s playing style is more like a blend of power and precision. She loves to dictate rallies from the baseline and can also turn defense into offense very rapidly. Mirra Andreeva is adept at reading her opponent’s game, crafting effective tactics to exploit weaknesses and expose vulnerabilities.

Daria Kasatkina on the other hand, is more like a baseline player with a crafty style of play. She loves to bring in a lot of variations in her shots. For example, her heavy topspin forehands, one-handed slice backhands, drop shots, kick serves and tweeners are some of the weapons in her armory. Kasatkina relies on outsmarting her opponents through tactics rather than hitting overpowering shots.

However, the high number of double fault counts has been the biggest concern for her in this season. Daria Kasatkina has hit 101 aces this season but has committed 290 double faults. Apart from this, there isn’t much to talk about her weaknesses. She has been superb in this season and we expect her to have the last laugh in this match as well!