Daria Kasatkina has expressed her joy at finally becoming a tennis champion in Australian colours and ending a troubled patch of form.
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The country's most celebrated tennis import was left celebrating her first tournament triumph since switching her national allegiance 13 months ago, at last finding a welcome upturn in fortunes with victory on clay in Spain.
After a really difficult time, studded with loss of form, injury and even a spell when she walked away from the sport "at breaking point", Kasatkina on Sunday (Monday AEST) lifted the Catalonia Open, a second-tier WTA 125 event, defeating German Tamara Korpatsch in the final.
WTA 125 events are considered the equivalent of men's ATP 'Challenger' events, but for Kasatkina, the triumph clearly felt like a turning point after she had last week slumped to her lowest world ranking for 11 years when she got knocked out in the first round of the Madrid Open.
The 28-year-old didn't feel sorry for herself but sought instead a last-minute wildcard to compete in La Bisbal D'Emporda, and it's paid off with a week that's ended with Kasatkina's first triumph in any tournament since she lifted the Ningbo Open title in China in October 2024.
"Thanks @cataloniaopensolgirones for an amazing week and a last minute WC. Felt all the love and can't describe how happy I am to lift this trophy after a long time of struggle. Thanks everyone for your support," Kasatkina posted on Instagram.
It was a welcome piece of good news for Kasatkina in the build up to the French Open after a long spell where, amid the turbulence of her high-profile move, the Russian-born player's results had suffered.
She wasn't helped either by another hip injury that took two months out of her 2026 season.
And Kasatkina, who's now flying off to Rome with new confidence for the Italian Open, had to earn victory the hard way this past six days.
In her first match last Tuesday, she had to save two match points before getting past Colombian Emiliana Arango, and in the championship match with world No.99 Korpatsch, she only prevailed 2-6 6-3 7-5 after repelling the German's last-set fightback in a two-and-a-half hour duel.
Australian Associated Press
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