Veronika Kudermetova on facing Iga Swiatek following Coco Gauff win: ‘No pressure. It’s a nice challenge’

Shahida Jacobs
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Veronika Kudermetova in action
Veronika Kudermetova celebrates with a fist pump

Veronika Kudermetova scored her 11th win over a top 10 player as she held off Coco Gauff in the quarter-final of the Qatar Open and her reward is a clash against top seed Iga Swiatek.

The world No 11 dominated the opening set before French Open runner-up Gauff got a foothold in the game during a tight second set, but the Russian took charge of the decider for a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 victory in just over two hours in Doha.

“I’m so proud to get this win. I’m so happy. Today was really difficult because of the wind, you know, especially when I played against Coco,” Kudermetova said about her win over the world No 6.

“She’s a great player. She’s already a champion. I am so happy that I won this match.”

After Kudermetova broke in games three and seven of the opening set, the second set was a mixed affair with seven breaks of serve as Gauff edged it 4-3. However, the Russian was soon in command again as she raced into a 5-0 lead with two breaks in the decider.

She will face defending champion and world No 1 Swiatek, who advanced after Belinda Bencic withdrew, for a place in the final.

And after losing her first two matches against Swiatek, Kudermetova knows she will be up against it.

“[There’s] no pressure because I have already played two times against her and I lost both (smiles),” Kudermetova said. “I will try to do my best. I will try to find the key to play against her. I mean it’s a nice challenge to have Iga next to your side of the court.”

Second seed Jessica Pegula claimed a solid 6-3, 6-2 win in one hour and 25 minutes over Beatriz Haddad Maia to reach the last four, breaking twice in both sets.

Up next is Maria Sakkari after the fifth seed overcame Caroline Garcia 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5).

“The conditions were very tough for both of us,” Sakkari said. “I think we did a really good job in the second set of holding our serves and not giving the opponent a chance to break. You don’t see that often in women’s tennis. It was pretty impressive.

“That third-set tiebreak was something special. I was brave, when in the second-set tiebreak I wasn’t, and I’m just very happy.”

READ MORE: Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Emma Raducanu, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud sign up for mixed doubles event

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