Photo: @badhombergopen/twitter
The quarter-final stage was set on Centre Court in Bad Homburg, Germany, where Bianca Andreescu defeated the tournament top seed, Daria Kasatkina, in straight sets 6-4, 6-1.
The unseeded Andreescu – currently ranked 64th in the world – has yet to drop a set at the Wimbledon warm-up tournament, needing only 82 minutes today to book her ticket to the semi-final round.
Today’s quarter-final match marked the second meeting between Andreescu and Kasatkina. The first time they faced off was in 2019 when Andreescu, the Mississauga native, defeated the Russian on home soil in the second round of the National Bank Open presented by Rogers.
Andreescu had to fight back multiple times in that 2019 contest, losing the opening set and eventually battling back down a break in the decider. Today’s match didn’t have that same intensity on both sides of the net, as Andreescu was clearly the better player from start to finish.
During the match, Kasatkina struggled in the clutch, committing six double faults and only winning three of 17 points off her second serve. On the other hand, the 22-year-old Canadian was able to take full advantage of the important points when they came her way, converting on 5/6 break points and saving 4/6 she faced.
Andreescu will play the winner of the quarter-final match between world No. 25 Amanda Anisimova of the United States and fourth-seeded Simona Halep of Romania.
It will be Andreescu’s first semi-final appearance of the season.
