Daria Kasatkina taking Carlos Alcaraz tips, Iga Swiatek gets spooked by Ons Jabeur - WTA Finals Diary
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 01/11/2022 at 12:17 GMT
In her WTA Finals Diary, Reem Abulleil reports on Daria Kasatkina taking tips from Carlos Alcaraz and Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Iga Swiatek getting spooked by Ons Jabeur. Barbora Krejcikova also discusses her love for line dancing as she looks to win the doubles title alongside partner Katerina Siniakova. Kasatkina faces Swiatek in her opening match on Tuesday evening.
Swiatek 'has a drive inside of her' and is 'motivated by getting even better' - Wilander
Alcaraz and Auger-Aliassime inspire Kasatkina
As much as players are always reiterating that they prefer to focus on themselves and their own games, tennis is tactical and it’s important to keep an eye on your rivals, not just to figure out ways to beat them, but also to pick up a thing or two from them that could help you against someone else.
In Daria Kasatkina’s case, it’s the men’s game where she turns for inspiration. It’s what she analyses more and where she gets some valuable tips.
“It's very difficult (to pick something from other women on tour). We compete against each other, so I want to see more disadvantages in the game of the girls,” explained the world No.8, who faces Iga Swiatek in her WTA Finals opener in Fort Worth on Tuesday.
“It's very difficult to see their good parts. Of course, I see them, but it's tough to accept,” she added with a chuckle.
“I watch more men's tennis, and I try to catch something from their game. Also, because my game is a bit more like boy style, let's say. Most of the girls, they are hitting the ball more, so I cannot take much from their game because we are a bit different.
"It's a very competitive sport, so it's tough to see good in your opponents. I'm quite objective, so I can see. I'm trying to take more from the men's part.”
Two players she used as examples for inspiration these days are men's world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz and in-form Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.
“Now because they play indoor tournaments, first of all, very similar. I'm watching how they're running around the forehand,” said the 25-year-old Kasatkina.
“They can run from the other side of the court making like this half a circle and catch the forehand from completely other side of the court. I'm like, ‘Oh, what footwork!’ I wish to have this speed and this timing and reading the direction of the ball because sometimes for me it's difficult.
“I cannot count the distance, the speed of the ball, where exactly the ball is coming. I think the boys, they do it a bit better than girls. I really think this is one of the most important aspects of tennis, to read the ball correctly. Because if you can read the ball, you can take the ball early when you need, you can put down the speed when you need, and this is a very useful thing.”
Krejcikova having a good time
Last year’s French Open singles champion Barbora Krejcikova has been keeping herself entertained since she touched down in Fort Worth.
Krejcikova is the top seed in doubles alongside her long-time partner Katerina Siniakova. The Czech duo won their opening match against Demi Schuurs and Desirae Krawczyk on Monday before Krejcikova put her fan hat on and sat courtside to watch both singles matches that followed.
Krejcikova sat front and centre as she witnessed Maria Sakkari’s close win over Jessica Pegula and Aryna Sabalenka's three-set success against Ons Jabeur, and was even spotted taking photos of the action with her phone during the matches.
Before the tournament started, Krejcikova made sure she took in the Texas culture and played tourist for a few days.
“I went to see the line dancing, which I really liked, in the hat and the shoes. This is something I really like. I'm definitely going to go there again and maybe try to learn some moves,” said Krejcikova.
“Then I went for a Texas barbecue. It was a really, really nice experience as well because I love to eat. There was a lot of food out there. I mean, not really healthy, but I did it at the beginning of the week, so it's fine.
“Then the last thing that I had the opportunity to visit was the university, the TCU (Texas Christian University) here. I've seen a little bit of the campus. I was really surprised how big it is and how equipped it is and how many sports they are doing and what kind of athletes are there.
“I'm really surprised because I don't think that there is something like this in Europe. I have a feeling that here in every big city there is a university like this. I was really nicely surprised. I hope there's going to be still one more week to go and I will have a chance to experience something else.”
Krejcikova line dancing? That’s something we’d definitely pay to see.
Jabeur’s happy Halloween
Jabeur was enlisted to spook a couple of players during Media Day, in anticipation of Halloween, and the Tunisian happily obliged.
The world No.2 gave Iga Swiatek and Caroline Garcia quite the scare, leaping from behind a curtain in full costume to interrupt their interviews. Here’s how that panned out.
“That was so much fun,” said Jabeur later. “Iga’s reaction was priceless.”
Meanwhile, the Gauff clan clearly take Halloween very seriously with Coco Gauff sharing photos of herself in multiple costumes and her entire team turning up to her doubles match on Monday dressed up in various costumes.
Tweet of the day
Stats of the day
- After falling to Sabalenka on Monday, Jabeur has now lost seven of her last eight matches against top-10 opponents.
- Sabalenka’s three-set win over Jabeur was the Belarusian’s tour-leading 27th three-set match of the season. She is 14-13 in three-set contests in 2022.
- Sakkari claimed her first top-five victory of the season on Monday with a 7-6(6), 7-6(4) result against Pegula. She was 0-2 against top-five opposition coming into the match.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement