Daria captures first WTA title

MIAMI: Russia’s Daria Kasatkina came up trumps in her first WTA final on Sunday, breezing past fellow 19-year-old Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-1 to claim a maiden title in Charleston.

In the first all-teen WTA final since 2009, Daria’s consistency paid off.

She belted just seven winners to her Latvian opponent’s 25, but she also made just seven unforced errors to Jelena’s 38.

They traded breaks early in the opening set, Jelena leveling the set at 3-3 before Daria ruthlessly pulled away to win in just 66 minutes.

The two players have a long history in the junior ranks, but had met just once before at the WTA level, when Jelena triumphed last year at Eastbourne.

The 42nd-ranked Daria is now slated to return to the top 30 as she aims to return to Roland Garros as a seeded player for the second straight year.

Jelena, now 0-3 in finals after defeats in Quebec in 2015 and at Doha last year, will rise from 66th in the world back into the top 50.

But she will regret a final she called her “worst match” of a week that included victories over former World No 1 Caroline Wozniacki and Australian Open semifinalists Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.

Daria, whose victory underscores her rising-star status already established with two wins over world number one Angelique Kerber this year, became the sixth teenager to lift the Charleston trophy — a list that also includes Chris Evert, Tracy Austin, Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis and Sabine Lisicki. AFP