Daria Kasatkina is turning her focus to another season on the WTA Tour, which returns imminently.
The 2025 season has only just finished, with Kasatkina ending her WTA campaign ranked 37th in the world.
She was among the players who struggled at times in 2025, with the busy schedule having often taken its toll.
But the current level of women’s tennis has also been a real challenge for Kasatkina, who once upon a time reached the French Open semifinals.
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Daria Kasatkina notices major style of play change on the WTA Tour
Sharing her verdict on the current state of the WTA Tour, Kasatkina said on The Sit-Down podcast: “Women’s tennis has improved a lot.
“I remember when I just appeared on Tour in 2015, sometimes some girls were struggling when you were slicing the ball. Some girls were struggling with the slice and the kick serve. Right now there is no chance.
“All girls know how to return the kick serve, they know how to return 200kmph serve, they know how to go back and how to go inside and when to attack. So for me the main difference now compared to back then is that before it was styles of play.
“If the girl would be super aggressive, most probably she would struggle in defence. And the opposite. Now it’s so combined.
“The girls have really improved their weaknesses. Over 10 years it’s become more physical. I think girls have become stronger.
“Also I think everyone is hitting so hard. I feel so much like I don’t have a margin for a bad shot in the rally. Of course, there are good days and bad days.
“Some players can lose a match playing very badly. That’s normal, that is the game we are playing almost every week. But in general I think the level has gone up a lot.
“And I also think that girls improve their weaknesses and now you cannot just win a match just playing defensive.
“You have to know how to attack and when. In my opinion girls have improved so much in the last decade.
Daria Kasatkina reached ‘breaking point’ in difficult WTA season
Kasatkina has not been among the star players on the WTA Tour in recent times, although she is still a top 50 player.
The 28-year-old star once climbed as high as world number eight, while she also boasts eight career titles.
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But the former Grand Slam semifinalist failed to add to that tally in the 2025 season, in which she won 19 singles matches and lost 22.
Kasatkina ended her season early after reaching “breaking point”, having shortly before switched nationality from Russian to Australian.
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