MELBOURNE (Reuters) – After suffering an early exit at the Australian Open, Russia’s Daria Kasatkina made the most of another opportunity to shine at Melbourne Park by winning the Phillip Island Trophy on Friday.
The tournament, a WTA 250 event, was set up to provide players eliminated during the first week of the season-opening major a chance to boost their match fitness following a mandatory 14-day quarantine upon arrival in Australia.
Playing in her first WTA final since winning the 2018 Kremlin Cup in Moscow, Kasatkina rallied from a set down to beat Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova 4-6 6-2 6-2 in the final.
Bouzkova produced a fighting display but eventually ran out of gas, having come through a brutal three-hour semi-final against second seed Bianca Andreescu.
Kasatkina, who was knocked out in the Australian Open second round by Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets, rebounded to overcome four seeded opponents en route to her third WTA title.
The Phillip Island Trophy, a WTA 250 event, was set up to provide players eliminated during the first week of the season-opening major a chance to boost their match fitness following a mandatory 14-day quarantine upon arrival in Australia.
In a bid to rediscover her best level on court, former world number 10 Kasatkina revealed she has been working with a psychologist since the start of last season.
“It took a lot of time to rebuild my game, to rebuild my confidence, to change myself. Finally I’m feeling good,” the 23-year-old said.
“I was working with a psychologist a lot. I learned that your confidence shouldn’t depend on your results.
“To lose one match doesn’t have to kill yourself from inside, so… I think that was the main thing.”
(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
