Daria Kasatkina’s confidence couldn’t be any higher right now. The 20-year-old whipped past Angelique Kerber in 58 minutes to reach the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open, 6-0, 6-2.
It marks Kasatkina’s fourth straight-set win this tournament, her fourth Top 10 win of the season and her first Premier Mandatory semifinal appearance. She needed just 22 minutes to wrap up the first set, and handled Kerber’s expected improvement in the second set with a mental steadiness far beyond her years.
"I'm just going on court and actually now enjoying every minute during I'm playing," Kasatkina said earlier this week. "I'm playing best matches against the best players. But as I say, if you want to be on the top, you have to beat the top players. So quite simple rule."