Kastakina dazzles in Dubai en route to semifinals

Daria Kasatkina saved two match points in her epic three-hour upset over Johanna Konta to make the Dubai quarterfinals.

Faced with the challenge of battling the experienced word No. 12, the 20-year-old had to come up with crafty shots left and right such as this heavy crosscourt pass from behind the DUBAI letters:

Facing a point to go down 1-4 in the tiebreaker, Kasatkina pulled off this running forehand winner down-the-line:

The Russian then saved two match points to push the marathon into a decider, past midnight.

For the shot of that match, at 2-2, Kasatkina landed a reverse forehand on the line from nearly off the court.

She went on to win the next four games, and didn't stop there. On Thursday, she eased past Elena Vesnina, 7-6 (5), 6-1 to book a spot in her second Premier semifinals of 2018.

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