Daria Kasatkina Takes First Title in Nearly Two Years at 2024 Eastbourne International
Kasatkina was previously the runner-up at the event in 2023.
In her fourth final appearance during the 2024 season so far, Daria Kasatkina of Russia, 27, has finally won a title. She defeated Leylah Fernandez of Canada, 21, to win the Women’s Singles title at the 2024 Eastbourne International in Eastbourne, United Kingdom (a WTA 500 event). The score in the final was 6-3 and 6-4 in favor of Kasatkina.
This was the third match Fernandez and Kasatkina have played against each other on the WTA Tour - with Kasatkina winning both of their prior meetings. Today’s victory was the first title Kasatkina has won on the 2024 WTA Tour and the seventh title of her career in single’s competition. Notably, this was the first title she has claimed since prevailing at the Championnats de Granby in August 2022! Moreover, this was the first title she has taken from a grass court event. And finally, she becomes the first player representing Russia to win the title in Eastbourne since Elena Vesnina in 2013.
Heading into this tournament, Kasatkina was ranked as the Number 14 tennis player on the 2024 WTA Tour, while Fernandez carried the Number 30 designation. By winning in Eastbourne, Kasatkina has received 500 points in the overall rankings. Meanwhile, Fernandez has picked up 325 points.
Madison Keys of the United States (No. 12) was the tournament’s reigning champion. This year though, she lost against Fernandez during the semifinals. Meanwhile, Kasatkina was the event’s sixth seed while Fernandez entered the main draw as an unseeded player.
Kasatkina arrived in the final after winning against Wang Xinyu of China (No. 40), Yuan Yue of China (No. 38), Emma Raducanu of the United Kingdom (No. 168), and Jasmine Paolini of Italy (No. 7). She prevailed against the event’s third seed to win the title.
In the other half of the main draw, Fernandez defeated Barbora Krejčíková of the Czech Republic (No. 31), Ashlyn Krueger of the United States (No. 87), Harriet Dart of the United Kingdom (No. 105), and Keys. She knocked out the event’s fourth and seventh seeds to reach the final.
The revised rankings for the 2024 WTA Tour will be officially released on Monday, July 1. The tour will then play one tournament between July 1 and 14: Wimbledon in London, United Kingdom (a Grand Slam event). The competition will be played on grass courts.
Markéta Vondroušová of the Czech Republic (No. 6) is the reigning champion at Wimbledon. She is looking to defend the title as the event’s sixth seed this year - facing Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain (No. 83) in the first round. Meanwhile, Kasatkina and Fernandez are the 14th and 30th seeds. In the first round, Kasatkina will battle Zhang Shuai of China (No. 677) and Fernandez will compete against Lucia Bronzetti of Italy (No. 64).