Bencic destroys Kasatkina to claim Adelaide title
WTA
Belinda Bencic showed that she was the best player at the 2023 Adelaide International 2 when she destroyed Daria Kasatkina in the final.
The two players reached the final at the WTA 500 event in Adelaide after proving to be the two best players over the week, and also having a bit of luck prior to the final.
The eighth-seeded Bencic bested former WTA World No. 1, Garbine Muguruza, in the first round, before also beating Anna Kalinskaya and Caroline Garcia.
Kasatkina, who was the fifth seed, had a first-round bye, and then she beat two Czech players. First Barbora Krejcikova and then Petra Kvitova. In the semi-finals of the tournament, both had a bit of luck, as the other two semi-finalists withdrew from the event.
That meant both Bencic and Kasatkina reached the final without having to play their semi-final match. In the Russian's case, she also had a first-round bye, so only two wins got her to a WTA 500 final, which she certainly appreciated.
What Kasatkina certainly didn't appreciate was how well Bencic played in the final. The Swiss player put almost every ball inside of the court, and in the first set of the match, the higher-ranked Kasatkina couldn't do anything.
In fat, Bencic won 24 out of 32 points played, completely dominating Kasatkina in every aspect of the game. The result was a 26-minute 6-0 win in the opening set of the final.
Fans, who haven't got to witness any semi-final action, were certainly disappointed, and started cheering for Kasatkina's comeback, but that never happened. The Russian player was losing from the start of the second set again.
Bencic broke in the first game, and then she broken again to lead 4-1. Kasastkina won two games, but the Swiss player was just too good, winning the match 6-0, 6-2 to start the 2023 season with a title.
Naturally, she was very happy about her performance after the match, as she will now head to the Australian Open undefeated.
"I'm happy I could show my work here on the court. I thought I played some great matches from the start of the tournament and also against different kind of opponents so I really could test myself out there in every way and just go confidently into the Australian Open."
