Youth reigns in Charleston as Ostapenko and Kasatkina reach the finals

If you take a look at the Volvo Car Open draw, there are two Grand Slam singles winners, four Olympic gold medalists, three former world No.1-ranked players and a veteran lefty who has reached a major singles final. Saying that many of the athletes who have competed in Charleston this week have experience is probably an understatement.

So it is only fitting that the two players who have survived are teenagers.

Jelena Ostapenko and Daria Kasatkina, the two unseeded 19-year-olds who won on Saturday to advance to the championship match, have combined to play 13 Grand Slam main draws during their young careers. For context, second round loser Venus Williams has played at least 17 times at each of the four majors.

But no matter — two of the WTA Tour’s brightest young talents, who are two of only five teenagers in the Top 100, have proven this week that you don’t always need age and experience to earn impressive results.

“If she played like this every day, then I mean she would be No. 1 in the world,” former No.1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki said after losing to the 66th-ranked Ostapenko in the quarterfinals on Friday. “Everything was going in. She was hitting the lines. Everything that could go her way today was going her way."

Ostapenko, who cracked the Top 35 earlier this year, hit 40 winners against one of tennis’ premier defenders in Wozniacki, who only made six unforced errors in the match. The Dane didn’t give the Latvian the match — the youngster grabbed it.

In the semifinals, Ostapenko had a perfect opportunity to show how young she really is.

She lost the second set against resurgent 11th-seeded Mirjana Lucic-Baroni after serving for the match. Lucic-Baroni then trimmed the teen’s 4-1 lead in the decider to 4-3. Against the 35-year-old, who won her first career WTA title a month before Ostapenko was born, the Latvian could have folded, but she held her nerve to advance to her third WTA final, where she’ll face another future star in Kasatkina, playing in her first WTA final.

If the young Russian lost early this week in Charleston, few would have spoken about it. Coming into the tournament, Kasatkina lost four matches in a row, including three defeats at the hands of players ranked No. 47 or below.

Yet, maturely, Kasatkina has reminded the tennis world why she broke into the Top 25 as a teenager, and was able to beat top-ranked Angelique Kerber twice this season.

“I would prefer I reach more rounds than beat Angelique two times,” Kasatkina said after her quarterfinal win on Friday. “[I beat her] two times in the second round. So it doesn't give me much, only a little bit of confidence because I beat Angelique Kerber, but it doesn't show in the ranking.”

After coming back to beat Laura Siegemund, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the day’s first semifinal, Kasatkina shouldn’t have to worry about confidence anymore. The world No. 42 beat last year’s Olympic singles gold medalist (Monica Puig), close friend and Top 30 player Daria Gavrilova, and Siegemund, all in three sets. It is in those longer matches that experience usually prevails.

But youth has reigned in Charleston.

While the Grand Slams, Olympic medals and top rankings are still off in the distance, Ostapenko and Kasatkina are showing why they are players to watch right now, regardless of the winner on Sunday.

Prediction: Ostapenko may have more firepower, and she beat Kasatkina in three sets last year. However, that match was on grass. Look for the former Roland Garros Girls’ Singles champion to make that four-match losing streak feel ancient by winning her first tour-level title on Charleston’s green clay Sunday.