Sofia Kenin edges Daria Kasatkina in rollercoaster at Charleston Open

Madison Keys was surprised by a superb Anna Kalinskaya, while Sofia Kenin stepped up and defeated former champion Daria Kasatkina to close out Thursday’s action at the Charleston Open. The 2025 Australian Open champion, Keys, suffered a shocking defeat against the Russian, who is now the only non-American player in the quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, Kenin came through against 5th seed Kasatkina with a 6-3, 7-6 win, maintaining her excellent form at the beginning of the clay-court swing. The two players will now face each other for a spot in the semifinals at this WTA 500 event.

It wasn’t an easy day for Sofia Kenin, who was up against Daria Kasatkina, a player in excellent form and known for adapting well to clay. The 2020 Australian Open champion was the one who stepped up in the key moments of a match that was otherwise very tight. Both players had plenty of break chances in the first set, but Kenin was more effective: she saved 4 of 5 break points and converted both of her own to take the set 6-3.

The second set began with exchanged breaks and evolved into a tense battle of momentum swings. World No. 44 Kenin led for much of the set and had a 5-3 lead. She even served for the match at 5-4 but couldn’t close it out.

Kasatkina showed great resilience, saving a match point and breaking back to level the score and push the set to a tiebreak. In the breaker, Kenin went up 5-1 with two mini-breaks, but Kasatkina fought back to 6-6, saving two more match points along the way. Even so, Kenin refused to let the match slip, finally sealing the win 6-3, 7-6(9-7) in a dramatic and evenly contested battle.