One of the surprise packages of this year’s Madrid Open – Veronika Kudermetova – is not stopping at the quarter-finals, as she downed Jessica Pegula to make a mockery of the seedings and reach the last four. Pegula, the third seed, struggled for rhythm and found herself too often pushed off court against an impressive Kudermetova, who fought back from injury and a second-set bagel to come through.
Jessica Pegula was knocked out of the Madrid Open as Veronika Kudermetova reached the semi-finals despite battling an injury during the match.
The 12th seed took the first set before having a medical timeout after being bagelled by Pegula in the second set, but fought back in fine style to seal a last-four match against either world No. 1 Iga Swiatek or Petra Martic.
“I feel so happy and proud of myself because I play every match in three sets,” Kudermetova said on court afterwards, referencing her record of winning every match in three sets in the tournament to date.
“Every match was almost three hours, today just two hours, I feel fresh.
“It doesn’t matter who will be on the other side [Swiatek or Martic], I will try to show my best and be ready.”
Kudermetova, playing in her first quarter-final on the WTA Tour since Doha in February, was into her stride early in the Spanish capital, building on her good form over the week to date to break Pegula in the very first game.
Pegula looked frustrated to have started the match on such a bad footing, but she rebounded straightaway to break her opponent straight back. It was, remarkably, her 157th break of the season far, a category she leads the tour in.
The American however was struggling to keep her serve away from Kudermetova’s powerful returns, and she went 15-40 down in the next.
She saved one break point to come back to 30-40, but then struck a simple forehand long to find herself, again, a break down at 1-2.
Perhaps the encounter to date was reflective of the fact the pair had never played each other before, with both seeking to suss the other out in the early stages.
Things began to settle down thereafter though as both players held, leaving the set nicely poised at 2-3 in Kudermetova’s favour.
But the topsy-turvy nature of the match returned as first Pegula broke for 3-3, then was broken straight back by Kudermetova, the latter’s third break of the set.
Two tight games followed but both players eventually held, giving Kudermetova the chance to serve for the opener at 5-4 ahead.
Pegula gave no quarter as the pair moved to 30-30, but Kudermetova dug out a set point and when she then threw in a devilish kick serve, Pegula could only return it wide – giving the 12th seed the one-set advantage.
The American recorded just a 50% first-serve percentage in set one, and only eight winners – two statistics she surely was hoping to improve as the two players began the second set.
And that was emphatically the case as just 22 minutes later, Pegula was sitting in her chair having bagelled her suddenly struggling opponent.
Kudermetova, remarkably, won just five points in the entire set as Pegula put her to the sword.
There was a clue during the end-of-set sit-down as Kudermetova – who had occasionally looked in difficulty with her movement during the second set – received treatment to her right leg, and left the court for her medical time-out.
It had an immediate impact as the Kazan-born Kudermetova stormed into a 2-0 lead in the decider.
Pegula fought back to 2-2, but she faced another break point in her next service game as Kudermetova – as she had in the first set – moved her opponent well off the court with some vicious spinning forehands, eventually forcing Pegula to go long as the Russian took the lead once more, this time 3-2.
Back came Pegula to level up at 3-3, but as had been the story of the match, the third seed was then broken again – to love – as Kudermetova closed on the semi-finals.
And when Kudermetova brought up two match points at 5-4 ahead, she sealed it on her second of those with a stunning wide ace.
