Iga Swiatek’s return to tennis after an early US Open loss hit the buffers in Tokyo, with the top seed humbled 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in Friday’s WTA quarter-finals..
World No. 2 Swiatek, who went out in an Open fourth-round upset, lost to an opponent whom she had defeated four times, with Kudermetova winning a total of 10 games.
But the eighth-seeded underdog took her revenge in just under two and a half hours, breaking three times and helped by six double-faults from the Pole.
“I tried to just believe that I can beat her. Today it happened,” the winner said.
“I’m really happy that I managed to switch (past results) and win a match.”
The tone was established in the first set, with Swiatek plagued by 20 unforced errors as she lost serve twice in the opener.
The final set was a repeat of the first, with Swiatek handing over a double-fault to fall a double break down on the way to defeat.
Kudermetova set up a semi-final date in the capital against two-time finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who advanced over Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, 7-5 in their quarter-final.
Rafael Nadal lined up for what was to be the final match of his career…
Jannik Sinner took charge in front of his home crowd on Sunday, crushing ATP Finals…
Daniil Medvedev went into meltdown mode on Sunday during a highly charged 6-4, 6-3 loss, with opponent…
Jannik Sinner could well be missing from the opening European clay event of next season…
Rafael Nadal will bring down the curtain on his career next month as he plays his…
Wimbledon on Wednesday brought an end to human linecalling at the most traditional of the…