Kasatkina trounces Kerber to reach Indian Wells semis

Indian Wells (US) March 16 (IANS) Russia s Daria Kasatkina pulled off one of the biggest surprises of this year s BNP Paribas Open brushing aside an out-of-sorts Angelique Kerber 6-0 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of this WTA hard-court tennis event here.

The 19th-ranked Kasatkina was the more aggressive of the two players and by far the more consistent with the 10th-ranked German hurting her cause with an uncharacteristically high number of unforced errors on Thursday reports Efe.

Perhaps most surprisingly the 20-year-old Russian who is not known as a big server did not face a single break point against a two-time Grand Slam champion who is one of the best returners and defenders in women s tennis.

Thursday s victory was Kasatkina s third straight over a top-15 player at Indian Wells. Earlier in the week she defeated 13th-ranked American Sloane Stephens and Danish world No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki.

Next up for her in Friday s semi-finals will be American Venus Williams.

The BNP Paribas Open is one of the WTA s four Premier Mandatory events which each offer $4.5 million in total prize money and are among the biggest tournaments on the annual calendar.

--IANS
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