Veronika Kudermetova has capped off a dream week at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo by beating world No.4 Jessica Pegula in straight sets to capture the title.
The Russian rallied to an impressive 7-5, 6-1, win over the American who is currently ranked 15 places higher than her in the WTA standings. It is only the second time in Kudermetova’s career that she has won a Tour title and the first since Chrlesron in 2021. Against Pegula, she won 75% of her service points and broke her four times.
“Jessica is a great player, she’s a great fighter, and I prepared myself for the fight,” Kudmertova said afterwards. “When it was 5-5 in the first set, I just said to myself, ‘Veronika, you just need to fight, you just need to do everything that you can,’ and I did.”
Coming into Tokyo, Kudmertova has struggled for consistency in recent weeks after failing to record back-to-back wins at six consecutive tournaments. However, she has managed to turn her fortunes around in Japan where she also knocked out world No.2 Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals. Then in her next match, she ousted Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a three-and-a-half hour marathon.
“I’m really happy because before, it was not an easy time for me, it was really tough moments,” she said. “Now I’m really happy and I have a lot of motivation for the next weeks.”
The 26-year-old has now recorded five top 10 wins this year which is the most she has ever done in a single season.
There will be little time for Kudmertova to rest with her next tournament already getting underway. She will now travel to Beijing to play in the China Open where she will be unseeded in the draw. Granted a bye in the first round, she will open up against either Lesia Tsurenko or Zhu Lin.
