Tennis
The end of a terrible series. The tormentor of Russian tennis players is punished
Poland’s Iga Szwiatek lost to Veronica Kudermetova in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Tokyo.
Russian Veronika Kudermetova continues to confidently move towards the title in Tokyo. At the WTA 500 category tournament, our compatriot will definitely play in the semi-finals. To do this, she had to knock out Iga Swiatek, the second racket of the world!
And Veronica did it in a very difficult struggle.
Phenomenal Swiatek series
Kudermetova’s path to a face-to-face meeting with Shwiatek was not very difficult. Veronica knocked out Briton Harriet Dart and American Kayla Day one by one, without giving them a single set.
Iga, in turn, played only one match. She missed the first round. In the second round match, Swiatek defeated Japanese Mai Hontama in two sets.
Previously, the Polish woman and the Russian woman met four times in official matches under the auspices of the WTA. All confrontations ended in favor of Szwiatek, and three of them ended with a devastating score. Moreover, Szwiatek was on a fantastic streak of 15 victories in a row over her rivals from Russia. And the previous time a Russian managed to beat a Polish player was more than two years ago – in June 2021, Daria Kasatkina did it.
Victory on character
In the first set, it became clear that Veronica would not allow herself to lose without a fight. Moreover, after two breaks the Russian woman led 4:0! Swiatek did not expect such agility from her opponent and was unable to impose even a semblance of resistance, limiting herself to two games. The Polish player made a lot of mistakes and let them play, which Veronica used with success – 6:2.
But in the second set, Iga remembered that she was the second racket in the world. Three games taken in a row inspired Swiatek, who did almost everything. It was extremely difficult for Kudermetova to cope with such an Iga, so the Polish woman took the second set with a mirror score of the first – 6:2.
The final game turned out to be the most stubborn. Iga began to make mistakes again, but Veronica also played imperfectly. Having given up the first game, the Russian then took three in a row and was able to maintain the desired advantage until the end. Kudermetova snatched victory on her serve – with the score 5:4 and 40:15, Szwiatek took the ball into the net. As a result, 6:4 and Veronica’s first victory over Iga!
Fifth top win of the year
After the match, Kudermetova admitted how she was able to beat the second racket of the world. She just needed to believe in herself, which she did.
“I believed that I could beat Iga. Today it finally happened. “I’m very happy with my victory,” Veronica said after the match.
Kudermetova, ranked 19th in the WTA rankings, beat a top-ten opponent for the 15th time in her career. Interestingly, five victories were achieved this year. Since the beginning of the season, Veronica has beaten American Cori Gauff, compatriot Daria Kasatkina, American Jessica Pegula and Belarusian Arina Sabalenka at various tournaments. Now Iga Swiatek is on this list!
Two out of four
The tournament in Tokyo is generally going well for the Russians. In the semi-finals, Veronika Kudermetova will meet Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Daria Kasatkina could have joined them, but she lost to Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals, taking only one game in the entire match.
However, the Russian will definitely play in the final. This means tennis fans will have someone to cheer for.
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports journalist who has written for a number of Sportish. I have a background in journalism and have been writing since I was young. My main focus is sports news, but I also write about general news. I am currently working as an author at Sportish.
On January 18, Dayana Yastremska (WTA 27) and Elena-Gabriela Ruse (WTA 79) will face each other in the first round of the Australian Open.
The match will start at 02.00 Kyiv time.
Sport.ua together with a betting partner bet announcing the upcoming fight!
Dayana Yastremskaya
The Ukrainian is not having a bright start to the season, but if he manages to perform well at the Australian Major, he will be forgotten. In Brisbane, Yastremskaya played relatively well, managed to beat the Australian Gibson and the strong Fernandez from Canada, and lost in a tough fight against the strong American Pegula.
It all ended quickly in Adelaide, losing to the experienced but manageable Czech Siniakova by scores of 0:6, 1:6 in 54 minutes. These kinds of defeats have to be icy cold, there are no opponents you can beat, you have to do your best in every match. Diana has the talent to perform at a high level of tennis and you need to do your best in this tournament. Let me remind you that the Ukrainian athlete showed his best performance in the big league in 2024, when he managed to reach the semi-finals.
Elena-Gabriela Ruse
The Romanian tennis player is known to fans of this sport, although he lacks stars in the sky, as he is considered a good average player. For five years, Ruse has been in the top hundred, although he sometimes leaves.
The athlete, who participated in two tournaments this season, first qualified for the tournament by beating Subasic and Sönmez in Brisbane, but immediately lost to the famous Kenin in the main event in three sets. The scenario was similar in Adelaide; In the qualifying rounds, victories were achieved in three sets against the English Swan and the Czech Sinyakova, followed by victories from the “neutral” Kalinskaya 0:6, 3:6.
personal meetings
In one-on-one matches, the score is 2:0 in favor of the Romanian; Hamburg won three sets on clay in 2021, as well as two sets at the 2023 US Open.
To guess
No matter how pretentious it sounds, a lot will depend on Yastremskaya’s mood; If his game goes well, everything can end in defeat. There may also be an option for the Ukrainian player to bring victory to his opponent.
Nobody wants to be eliminated in the first round; Ukrainian is a little favorite, I agree. Here I propose to bet on Dayana’s net victory of 1.77.
Dayana Yastremskaya 01/18/2026 –
02:00
Elena-Gabriela Ruse 1.77 place a bet KRAIL License No. 559 dated 12/05/2024 Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
Tennis
Marta Kostyuk – Elsa Jacquemot. Prediction and announcement for the Australian Open 2026 match
On January 18, Marta Kostyuk (WTA 20) – Elsa Jacquemot (WTA 58) will meet in the first round of the Australian Open.
The match will start at 03.30 Kyiv time.
Sport.ua together with a betting partner bet announcing the upcoming fight!
Marta Kostyuk
The Ukrainian has been in the news since the beginning of this year due to his amazing performance in Brisbane. Yes, Marta could not win the championship, losing to world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the final. Here I want to talk more about Kostyuk’s path to the final, she eliminated three tennis players in the top 10, Amanda Anisimova (WTA 3), Mirra Andreeva (WTA 7) and Jessica Pegula (WTA 6), and at the beginning there was a victory over the experienced Putintseva.
Such a strong performance allowed the Ukrainian player to break into the top 20. I was impressed not only by the result, but also by the confident, mature game, there were no chances here, Marta was stronger than her strong opponents.
Elsa Jacquemot
The French tennis player cannot be called a rising star; he is 22 years old; He made a breakthrough last season, climbing more than a hundred places, which allowed him to break into the top 100. This year the athlete has already dropped three places in the world rankings.
The start of the season doesn’t look very optimistic yet; Jacquemo played in Brisbane and Hobart, losing in devastating fashion on both occasions. First he lost to Australian Tomljanovic 1:6, 3:6, then to the Polish Frenchman 4:6, 0:6. It is difficult to expect an outstanding game against such weak matches. Perhaps conclusions will be drawn from defeats, but here you will have to play even against an opponent stronger than the previous ones.
To guess
The tennis players are not far apart in the rankings, only 38 places and almost the same age in years, with Marta being a year older. Despite this, Kostyuk is considered the undisputed favorite by bookmakers.
Such quotes can be explained by the fact that the Ukrainian player was impressed in Brisbane and therefore they expected a strong performance from him. I would like to point out that the tennis players have never played each other before.
Looking ahead, I will say that in the next round the best of this pair will play with the winner of the pair Putintsev – Haddad Maya. I agree that Marta is in great form, so I’m betting her to win at 1.66 with a -5.5 game handicap.
Marta Kostyuk01/18/2026 –
03:30
Elsa Jacquemot 1.66 place a bet KRAIL License No. 559 dated 12/05/2024
Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
January 18 Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina (WTA 12) The Australian Open will begin its performances in 2026.
In the 1/64 final the Ukrainian team will play against the Spanish representative Christina Buksha (WTA 51). The match will take place in the second start at John Cain Arena after the Feri-Cobolli match. The approximate start time of the match is 04:30 Kyiv time.
The best moments of tennis matches LIVE on Telegram channel Tennis on Sport.ua
This will be the first head-to-head meeting between the rivals.
The winner of the match will face Linda Klimovichova or Francesca Jones in the second round.
DAY CALENDAR
TOURNAMENT TABLE
Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
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