Jabeur Beats Kasatkina: Second seed Ons Jabeur outclassed third-ranked Daria Kasatkina in straight sets to barge into her second consecutive Charleston Open final on Saturday. Jabeur defeated Kasatkina, 7-5 7-5, to secure another opportunity to win the Charleston Open. Last year, the Tunisian succumbed to Belinda Bencic in the final. She will have to wait until Sunday to find out her next foe as the match between top seed Jessica Pegula and fourth-ranked Bencic was rained out. The Swiss took the first set but is behind 2-4 in the second-set tiebreak. The winner of the tennis tournament will give the player vital Women’s Tennis Association ranking points and high-figure money that will increase her annual earnings, experts in sports odds and parlays said.
Jabeur Beats Kasatkina: 10th Semifinal Win in 12 Tries
Jabeur’s win over Kasatkina was the 10th semifinal victory of her career in 12 final four attempts. The Tunisian also won her fifth straight match against the Russian. In the first set, Jabeur fought from 3-5 down to win the next four games at the Credit One Tennis Center. In the next set, Daria Kasatkina and Jabeur fought tooth-and-nail and got into a 5-5 tie. But Jabeur had enough gas on her tank and captured two straight games to win the match and reach her first final of the year. She now awaits the winner between Bencic and Pegula in the second semifinal.
Swiatek: Tennis Lost an Opportunity to Ban Russians, Belarusians
Women’s singles world number one Iga Swiatek has stated that the Women’s Tennis Association scuppered a chance to prohibit players from Russia and Belarus after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. In an interview with BBC, Swiatek said that the moment to ban them has passed so it will be too late for tennis officials to impose a ban on them. The 21-year-old Polish netter has expressed support to her Ukrainian counterparts who were critical of the WTA for not doing their best to support them and now that the attack on Ukraine has passed 13 months, she believes that banning the Russian and Belarusian tennis stars is too late.
Now Unfair to Impose the Ban
Swiatek feels that it is now unfair to impose the ban on the players, saying that the authorities should consider the prohibition from the beginning. She noted that WTA and the Association of Tennis Professionals had shown a lack of leadership following the invasion, resulting to chaos in the sport. However, Swiatek added that she still sympathizes with Russian athletes who are against the war as she hailed them for their bravery to stand against their government and said that the attack was uncalled for. Online tennis betting sites agree with Swiatek’s sentiment on the tennis bodies’ late action on the issue. Imposing a ban on the Russian and Belarusian players on the circuit due to the ongoing invasion is already past its relevance and it will be unfair right now to prohibit them as they have been playing for over a year now without fail despite playing under a neutral flag.
