The Russian tennis player Darya Kasatkina is only 17 years old but she has already been successful among women. She was training at the TC EMPIRE tennis club under the supervision of coach Vladimir Platenik, head coach of the EMPIRE Tennis Academy. She was thrilled about the preparation and environment.

VIDEO WITH DARYA KASATKINA IN TRNAVA
Kasatkina is currently ranked 382nd in the WTA rankings and she is the seventh among the juniors (was third, too). She is 2014 junior Roland Garros winner and the holder of two ITF titles (Sharm El Sheikh & Telavi). She was in Trnava for the first time. "I like this small city and club. I have felt good here and I´ve had some good training for those five days. I'm here because I want to find a new coach and I think I have already done so. I'll be glad if we will make an agreement," said Darya for the tcempire.sk website. Junior player was training one or two times a day. "I´ve really liked it. And I like it here in Slovakia. I had a coach in Togliatti, but I want to find a new one."
Vladimir Platenik told us more about Kasatkina and her game and talent. "She plays excessively intelligently, trying to change the rhythm. She has a very clever hand, plays slice shots, lift shots, and she has good moves. She can be successful. I would compare her style to Agnieszka Radwanska. She is still behind the top players, but if all goes according to plan, she has the potential to be in the top hundred of the WTA rankings. I will gladly cooperate with her," commented Platenik, who is on the trip with another talented player – Anna Laguza of Ukraine. She plays U14 Davos Junior Trophy tournament in Switzerland.
Kasatkina already left the town of Trnava because she plays the ITF tournament in Nantes, France.
"It's hard to play among women, because it's essentially a start from the beginning. But it's easier with ranking points. I'm ranked No. 392 in the world which is not very good, but not bad. It will be great if I manage to be in the top 100 in a year. This is my first goal. I hope that I'm going to play Grand Slam qualifying, too. That would be fine," added Kasatkina who travels to the tournaments with brother who is also a fitness coach.

Who is Kasatkina?
Born: May 7, 1997; Togliatti; Russia
Favourite players: Rafael Nadal & Kim Clijsters
Favourite shot: forehand
Favourite tournament: Roland Garros
Favourite surface: clay

Photo source: Kasatkina's twitter