Semifinal preview: Pegula-Kasatkina, Sakkari-Collins eye championship Sunday
Credit One Stadium, Credit One Charleston Open 2024 Credit One Charleston Open Day 7 at Credit One Stadium on April 05, 2024 in Charleston, South Carolina.
And then there were four.
The Credit One Charleston Open has reached championship weekend, with four compelling singles stars still in contention to hoist the trophy come Sunday.
Top seed Jessica Pegula is joined by No.3 Maria Sakkari, No.4 Daria Kasatkina, the 2017 winner here, and Danielle Collins, the Miami Open champion in arguably the best form on tour – with a win streak of 11 matches in a row.
Pegula and Kasatkina are set to clash at 1pm local time, followed by Sakkari vs. Collins. Both the singles and doubles finals are slated for Sunday.
MORE: Updated draws | Saturday order of play
[1] Jessica Pegula (USA) vs. [4] Daria Kasatkina
Can Pegula advance to her first-ever final in Charleston? Kasatkina’s prowess here might be her biggest hurdle, the 2017 champion an impressive 17-3 in four Charleston trips in her career.
The head-to-head leans Pegula’s way 2-0, including a win on red clay in Rome in 2021. But the American isn’t tempted to look past Kasatkina, calling the all-court player a “wall” to try to play against.
“I feel like I have a game plan in my mind based on past experiences, but you also never know what she’s going to do,” Pegula said of Kasatkina, calling out her lethal, “spiny forehand.” “She plays well here. But I know what to expect. She plays pretty straightforward with her game, so it’s just more me trying to execute what I need to do.”
“She’s a great player, [an] incredible player; very tough to beat,” said Kasatkina of Pegula. “If you want to beat her, you have to be on your best shape, showing the best you can.
She continued: “But I am ready. I’m prepared. I spent quite a long time on clay, so I am used to it already. It’s going to be a very tough match, obviously.”
[3] Maria Sakkari (GRE) vs. Danielle Collins (USA)
What will it take to stop Danielle? It’s hard to know, exactly, with the last person to do so being world No.1 Iga Swiatek in Indian Wells. “Anything is possible,” Collins said at one point during her press conference on Friday (April 5) after beating Elise Mertens.
That’s a scary belief for the rest of the field to face, including Sakkari, who has a 2-1 edge on their head-to-head. But Collins won their last meeting at Montreal last year, and green clay is a surface she has played on since her childhood growing up in the Tampa area.
“It’s going to be very tough, but I want to enjoy [the semifinal] match,” Sakkari said of her test against Collins.
“We know she’s playing extremely well right now,” she added. “It’s going to be very challenging for me, someone who is in their top form. [But] I’m having fun. I’m going to trust myself and trust my game. I think that’s the most important thing.”
“This is my last year,” Collins said, confirming her plans to retired at the end of 2024. “I want to go out with a bang and just play my best tennis and do the best that I can.”
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