Shelby Rogers intensely returns a serve against Veronika Kudermetova in her semifinal matchup at the San Jose State Tennis Center on Saturday AUG 6, 2022. (Neal Waters)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE — American Shelby Rogers is one win away from her first title in 2022.

Rogers shot down Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova in straight sets 6-3 6-4 in her semifinal matchup on Saturday afternoon at the San Jose State Tennis Center.

It is the first final appearance for the 29-year-old veteran since 2016. She was able to break serve to open and close the first set that saw Rogers utilize her serve against Kudermetova.

In the second set Kudermetova tried to reverse course by breaking serve to open the second set. She was in good position to send the match to a third when she was serving up 4-3. However, Kudermetova lost her serve and ended up losing the game on a double fault.

Sensing the momentum shift, Rogers took advantage and won the final three games to close out the match to secure her first final appearance of the season. She lost in the semifinals against the Aryna Sabalenka at the Libema Open back in June.

“I felt like that was a huge game for me,” said Rogers. “If I could just swing out and get the breaks somehow, I would be in a really good position. I got a little lucky, she (Kudermetova) missed a couple of first serves here and there which you’re always thankful for that. I thought I stayed really solid and made her (to try to) outplay me. I was pretty excited with that tactic.”

Kudermetova is now 2-2 in semifinals appearances on the season and is 0-2 against Rogers in 2022.

“I was a little bit frustrated. I tried to push myself. I tried to be more aggressive and play more inside the court without making mistakes. Today I just couldn’t play well,” Kudermetova said.

In the other semifinal, Russia’s Daria Kasatkina punched her ticket to her second straight MSVC final appearance with a straight sets victory over the number two seed Paula Badosa of Spain 6-2 6-4.

“I’m really happy to be back on the finals,” said Kasatkina, the world’s number 12 player. “Looks like San Jose has been a nice place for me (to play in).”

Kasatkina played an aggressive style while being able to pick her spots down the lines. This is Kasatkina’s first semifinals win of the season (1-2). Her last semifinals appearance was at this year’s French Open where she lost to number one player in the world Iga Swiatek.

“I tried to have move her (Badosa) around as much as possible and break her rhythm. Today it worked,” Kasatkina said.

Badosa, ranked fourth in the world, started the second set up 2-0 but wasn’t able to keep the momentum going as Kasatkina was able to break serve two times during the second set and won the final games to clinch the match.

“Yeah it’s always tough when you play the caliber of these player,” said Badosa. “Because it feels like the court gets very very small. It gets smaller and smaller every time. I give credit to her (Kasatkina) because that’s what she does, and she does it very well.”

The doubles final is set as the team of Shuko Aoyama and Hao-Ching Chan defeated Gabriela Dabrowski and Giuliana Olmos in three sets 2-6 7-6 10-3. They will take on the team of Yifan Xu and Zhaoxuan Yang, who defeated Kudermetova and Zhang Shaui in three sets 5-7 6-2 10-7, at 2:00pm on Sunday.

UP NEXT: Kasatkina vs Rogers in the MSVC final on Sunday 8/7 at 4:00pm at San Jose State Tennis Center.