Kasatkina stuns Badosa in late-night match in Rome

Paula Badosa had the match under control but serving soes buried her against the feisty Russian 4-6 4-6.

Badosa has not been playing spectacular tennis lately as she tends to beat weaker players but the moment she faces a bit of adversity she completely shuts down. Today was not so dramatic but it was very close to the script as she opened the match with a quick service game and then a break. She failed to confirm it so it was 2-1, she broke back again, but failed to confirm it again.

She broke her opponent again and again failed to confirm the break. It was the 6th consecutive loss of serve by both players. Eventually, the Spaniard got very frustrated and lost her serve at 4-4 to give Kasatkina the lead which she converted into a 6-4 first set finish. Badosa opened the 2nd set with three stunning winners and a 40-0 lead.

She followed that up with numerous errors and she lost her serve. She broke back but lost her serve again only to break back again. She lost her serve again giving Kasatkina the 3-2 lead but this time around she failed to bring it back. Kasatkina then held her nerve for the 6-4 final set victory. A great performance from the Russian but Badoasa shut down again when faced with adversity.