Tennis
A magnificent breakthrough by a Russian tennis player. Took out an American and took the title
Veronica Kudermetova / Photo: © Robert Prange / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru
Veronica Kudermetova spent a brilliant week in Tokyo and earned almost 12 million.
The trip to Japan turned out better than all expectations for Russian tennis player Veronika Kudermetova. The triumphant performance of our athlete allowed us to achieve long-awaited success at the prestigious tournament.
In the final, the top American was destroyed.
A hard road to the final
Kudermetova is not spending 2023 as successfully as her fans would like. In January, the Russian woman was in the top 10, but by September she fell back to the end of the second ten in the WTA rankings. Frequent defeats in the early stages of tournaments contributed to this.
The North American tour was extremely unsuccessful for Veronica. Perhaps that is why Dmitry Tursunov appeared on the Russian coaching staff. The specialist is famous for his ability to find an approach to tennis players and help them overcome difficult moments in their careers.
Coincidence or not, Tursunov’s invitation quickly yielded results. Very often lately Veronica has lost even to her rivals, but this did not happen in Japan. In the first two rounds, the Russian confidently outplayed Harriet Dart and Kayla Day.
In the quarterfinals, Kudermetova faced a very serious test in the person of the second racket of the world, Iga Swiatek. Before this, the lot brought the Russian woman together with the Polish woman four times, and these meetings did not end well for Veronica. Iga regularly crushed the Russian, without losing a set to her. But in Tokyo, the unpleasant trend has finally stopped. The Russian did not crumble, losing in the second game, and due to her stable play, she knocked out one of the main favorites from the tournament – 6:2; 2:6; 6:4.
The semifinal match with compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova turned out to be the longest in Veronica’s career. The Russians spent almost three and a half hours on the court, two tiebreakers were played. A difficult confrontation remained for Kudermetova – 7:6 (8:6); 6:7 (2:7); 6:3.
“She was too good”
The functional state of the Russian before the final raised certain concerns. Veronica spent a lot of effort in the last meetings, and her opponent was not an easy one. Jessica Pegula is currently ranked fourth in the WTA rankings.
The American was considered the favorite, but from the very first games Veronica made it clear that her opponent might not even dream of an easy title. The Russian took three starting games, and at the same time produced a powerful series of ten won rallies in a row.
But Pegula did not break under the pressure of Kudermetova. Jessica returned to the game and even made it to the 12th game, although she still faltered at the decisive moment, making a double fault on the Russian’s set point.
The second game developed according to a completely different scenario. The Russian dominated on the court, allowing her opponent to take only one game. This victory brought Veronica the second WTA title in her career.
After the match, Pegula did not hide her disappointment at the missed opportunity, but acknowledged Kudermetova’s amazing form.
— I would like to congratulate Veronica and her team. She was too good this week and played amazing tennis today,” Jessica said.
After the victory, Veronica made a touching speech, thanking her husband and part-time coach Sergei Demyokhin.
— I wish Jessica a successful end to the season. I would like to thank my husband and coach. I know sometimes it’s not easy for us, but you are always with me,” Kudermetova said to the applause of the audience.
Success in Tokyo brought Veronica $120 thousand (about 12 million rubles) in prize money, as well as 470 points. This will allow the Russian woman to improve her position in the WTA rankings and become the 16th racket in the world on Monday.
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.
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.
On January 17, the finals took place in the tough tournaments ATP 250 in Adelaide (Australia) and ATP 250 in Auckland (New Zealand).
Czech became champion in Adelaide Tomah Makhach (ATP 35), who made it in the final Hugo Humbert In three batches over 2 hours and 52 minutes.
Toma played the third final of his career and won his second cup. He won the 500 title in Acapulco last season.
ATP 250 Adelaide. Difficult. Final
Hugo Humbert (France) – Tomas Machac (Czech Republic) [8] – 4:6, 7:6 (7:2), 2:6
In the deciding match of the New Zealand competition Yakub Menshik beat (Czech Republic, ATP 18) Sebastian Baez (Argentina, ATP 39) in two sets in 1 hour 24 minutes.
Jakub reached the Tour final for the third time in his career and won his second trophy. He became the Masters champion in Miami in 2025.
Menshik interrupted Baez’s seven-fight hitting streak.
ATP 250 Auckland. Difficult. Final
Sebastian Baez (Argentina) [7] – Yakub Menshik (Czech Republic) [3] – 3:6, 6:7 (7:9)
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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