(Reuters) – Daria Kasatkina beat American Shelby Rogers 6-7(3) 6-1 6-2 to lift the Silicon Valley Classic title on Sunday, the victory helping the Russian climb to a career-high ninth in the world rankings.
Kasatkina, who was forced to miss Wimbledon due to the ban on Russian players, had also reached the final of the event in San Jose, California last year, only to fall to Danielle Collins.
“Winning matches, especially titles, always give you a lot of confidence,” said Kasatkina, 25, after claiming her first title of the season.
“I hope I can use it in the best way possible and see where it’s going to take me.”
Rogers won the tiebreaker during a 78-minute opening set but her energy and game seemed to dip as Roland Garros semi-finalist Kasatkina roared back to dominate with her stellar defence from behind the baseline and mixed bag of shots.
Kasatkina, who was last in the top 10 in 2019, next heads to Toronto for the National Bank Open to continue her preparations for the U.S. Open.
“After you won a title (it) doesn’t matter how the match was going, if you were losing or winning,” said Kasatkina, who slumped to the ground after sealing victory with a forehand winner.
“The most important is this moment and I’m really glad that I won the title.”
(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; editing by Peter Rutherford)
