Daria Kasatkina becomes first Russian woman to win St. Petersburg

Daria Kasatkina is making her presence felt again on the WTA tour, as the former world No. 10 became the first Russian woman to win St. Petersburg on Sunday. Kasatkina clinched the title after Margarita Gasparyan retired with a back injury while trailing 6-3, 2-1.

"I'm proud of how I was able to manage the pressure," Kasatkina said. "I felt differently during this tournament and I'm really proud of that."

After being broken for the second time in the first set, Gasparyan took a seven-minute medical timeout. That didn’t slow Kasatkina’s momentum, as she easily closed out the set. The second set saw the players trade three breaks before Gasparyan retired from the match.

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It’s the 23-year-old’s second title of the season, having triumphed at the Phillip Island Trophy in Melbourne—which marked her first WTA singles title in over two years. It’s the first time she has won multiple titles in one season.

"My coach was telling me the best medicine is to win matches, and that's 100% true," Kasatkina said.

For Gasparyan, her campaign may have ended on a losing note but there are plenty of positives to take from this week’s showing. A wild card, the world No. 126 was playing in her first WTA 500 final. With her win over Vera Zvonareva in the semifinal, she became the lowest-ranked player to reach a WTA 500 or above final since No. 153-ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2019 Cincinnati.

Kasatkina, who captured Moscow in 2018, becomes the first player to claim both WTA 500 events in Russia. She has now won four career WTA titles.