By Alberto Amalfi | Monday, May 30, 2022
Veronika Kudermetova broke five times topping Madison Keys 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 to reach her first major quarterfinal in Paris and a date with Daria Kasatkina.
Photo credit: Getty
Russian women pulled off power outages in broad daylight at Roland Garros.
Veronika Kudermetova redirected drives masterfully defusing explosive Madison Keys 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 on the strength of five service breaks.
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Contesting her 13th Grand Slam main draw, Kudermetova reached her first career major singles quarterfinal where she will face compatriot Daria Kasatkina.
In today’s first fourth-rounder, Kasatkina carved up ballistic ball striker Camila Giorgi 6-2, 6-2 on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
A light touch 💡#RolandGarros | @DKasatkina pic.twitter.com/qB7QXbVHyw
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2022
The 20th-seeded Kasatkina has dropped just 14 games in four tournament wins to charge into her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since she made back-to-back quarterfinal appearances at the 2018 Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
Kasatkina won 15 of 19 points played on Giorgi’s second serve and converted four of eight break points in an 80-minute conquest.
Despite hitting several second serves in the mid 50 mph-range, Kasatkina defended her serve well and committed just 10 unforced errors on the day, 27 fewer than Giorgi, who littered 37 unforced errors.
A 2018 Roland Garros semifinalist, Keys has gone deeper than Kudermetova in Grand Slam singles play, but that didn’t matter much to the 25-year-old Russian. Kudermetova knocked off world No. 4 Paula Badosa for her fourth career Top 5 win in round four and swung more freely than Keys crafting a comeback.
Kudermetova on the comeback trail 🧭#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/9vAi97bTBH
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2022
The 22nd-seeded Keys collected a 40-love lead to start the final set, but Kudermetova came back to break.
Kudermetova cracked a backhand return winner down the line breaking for a 3-0 lead in the decider after Keys couldn’t close up a game point. Kudermetova won 12 of the last 16 points to book her spot in her maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal in one hour, 41 minutes.
In their lone prior meeting, the 20th-ranked Kasatkina conquered Kudermetova 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the 2021 St. Petersburg quarterfinals.