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On Tuesday, January 12, Ukraine’s Marta Kostiuk (WTA # 99) will play the semi-final match of the WTA 500 tournament in Abu Dhabi. The rival for Ukraine’s third racket will be Russia’s fourth racket Veronika Kudermetova (No. 46 WTA). The approximate start time of the match is 11:30 Kiev time.
Winning this match should bring one of the players $ 23,385 in prize money and 120 points to the WTA ranking, in addition to the $ 26,745 and 185 points already earned.
This will be the most important semifinal of their careers for both tennis players. At the WTA level, the Russian fought four times for a ticket to the final, but each time she lost. The Ukrainian reached the semifinals only in ITF tournaments.
Rival
Kudermetova, 23, was born in Kazan. He began to make significant progress in the rankings in 2019, having gone from 133rd to 41st on the season. In recent years, Veronika has been working under the guidance of her husband and coach Sergei Demekhin, but since the new season she has been trained by Slovak stuntman Vladimir Platenik, who previously worked with Kasatkina, Sasnovich and Blinkova.
Kudermetova has a phenomenal statistics of victories in matches with top-level tennis players. She won five of eight fights against representatives of the top ten, including twice defeating Elina Svitolina and Karolina Plishkova. In the Grand Slam tournaments, she still does not shine, in total four wins in the main draw, she did not make it past the third round. At the same time, she is presented in doubles, the best achievements are the victory in Wuhan-2019 in tandem with Duan Yingying and the semifinal of the US Open-2020 paired with Anna Blinkova.
Photography Jimmie48. Veronika Kudermetova
The Russian woman feels very good in the service, the speed of the first can exceed 180 km / h. He plays in an attacking style, mostly flat shots, often practicing going to the net. With the reception, the situation is a little worse, but judging by the performance in Abu Dhabi, he recently added a little in the defensive game.
In the 2020 season, Kudermetova’s career stalled, only once she managed to win more than two matches in a row. Meeting statistics after coming out of quarantine 6-6. In Abu Dhabi, she beat Estonian Anette Kontaveit early on, and after defeating Svitolina, we can confidently say that this is already the best tournament of her career.
Tournament route
Prospects in the ranking
Marta set out to break into the top 50 at the end of the season. Already in line, she is in position 78, reaching the final will allow her to climb another 11 lines, sitting opposite her friend Paula Badosa, who lost to Kudermetova herself in the third round. The Russian is fighting right now for the best result of her career. Another victory will allow him to be at least 36th, previously the record was on line 38.
Forecast
After defeating Svitolina, the bookmakers bet on Kudermetova. There is nothing strange about this, she is definitely the favorite of this confrontation. Marta in this tournament has not yet played with a representative of the first fifty, although she has already managed to overcome a couple of good tennis players. And yet he was lucky with the network.
Photography Jimmie48. Marta Kostyuk
Veronica’s main advantage will be a powerful and stable serve, her technical arsenal is clearly weaker. As for the power of the blows, here is a rough equality. Kostyuk’s main drawback may be the emotional component, although recently this hasn’t stopped him from getting results. Both players went to three-set quarterfinals, but at the start of the season this is unlikely to greatly affect their physical condition. Everyone is full of strength and ready to win.
Kostyuk has something to beat Kudermetova, there are even more chances than Svitolina. But you need to constantly maintain a high level, a Russian woman often needs a break to win a set.
Prediction: Kudermetova victory in three sets
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