Daria Kasatkina and Adrian Mannarino head into US Open as winners

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Daria Kasatkina plays a shot

Russian No 1 Daria Kasatkina and French journeyman Adrian Mannarino will head into the US Open off the back of tour wins.

Kasatkina claimed her second title of the season at the inaugural Championnats Banque Nationale de Granby on Saturday, downing ninth seed Daria Saville 6-4, 6-4 in the final.

Meanwhile, in North Cackalacky, Mannarino claimed just his second career-level title at the age of 34 with a 7-6(1), 6-4 victory against Laslo Djere in the Winston-Salem Open.

Mannarino took a while to get going in the tournament battling through an opening match that went to three tiebreaks.

“I’m just happy I won the tournament, no matter who won before or who’s going to win after,” Mannarino said post-match. “It’s just something that I’ve [accomplished] for now and I’m really happy with that.”

Mannarino also struggled to find his level early in the final, he had to save a pair of break points to avoid going a double break down before levelling at 4-4 and seizing the opening set in a tiebreak.

“I had some trouble today to see the ball,” the Frenchman said of his slow start. “The conditions last night, playing at night with the cold weather was so different than playing today with hot weather and clear blue skies.

“So it took me a little bit of time to get used to it but I was able to keep my nerve and just be focussed on what I had to do. I was able to break back at 4-3 and then I kept being consistent until the end. I knew that Laslo had a really exhausting week and probably if we were going to have a tough battle I would get the win because physically I was a little bit fresher.”

Mannarino’s win moves him back into the top 50 and up to World no 45.

The WTA Tour visited the Quebec town of Granby for the first time and Kasatkina came out on top to fire a US Open warning.

Kasatkina ended August the way she started it, with a title win.

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She claimed her 37th main draw match win of the season in Granby which puts her fourth in the WTA for 2022.

Kasatkina might look to her opponent Saville as an example for her next steps in the near future as she mulls a switch of nationality.

Currently, the Russian No 1 Kasatkina does not live in her home country instead basing herself in Spain with her partner.

Kasatkina has said she is considering switching nationalities after missing Wimbledon due to the ban on players for Russia and Belarus.

The British duo of Alicia Barnett and Olivia Nicholls snatched the Granby doubles title on Saturday night with a 5-7, 6-3, [10-1] win over compatriot Harriet Dart who reached the championship match with Rosalie van der Hoek of the Netherlands.

The Granby win marks the first WTA doubles title for both Barnett and Nicholls.

Barnett and Nicholls reached their first final earlier this season in Lyon.

The British pair shook off the loss of the first set to fight back and dominate the decisive match-tiebreak and triumph in the final after an hour and a half of tense doubles battle.

Adrian Mannarino Daria Kasatkina

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