Kudermetova authors Pliskova stunner at Cincinnati

NEW YORK, NY, USA - Russian No.4 Veronika Kudermetova scored the biggest victory of her young career on Sunday night at the Western & Southern Open, upsetting No.1 seed Karolina Pliskova, 7-5, 6-4. 

On the back of a marathon 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic on Saturday, which took two hours and 46-minutes, the World No.41 rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the first set and won the last three games of the match to earn the one hour, 45-minute upset.

"I tried to not think about the score. I tried to fight, tried to continue play like every ball, tried to enjoy like I play in the big stadium against first-seeded," Kudermetova said after the match.

"It was nice feeling, and I tried to just fight and enjoy it. I think right now I play really well. I have yesterday the longest match, today a long match. For me it's a good opportunity to play, like, right now with the good players. I know she's a really good player. I needed to just keep working every point. I had a good chance because I played yesterday. She played just [her] first match."

"For me, it's better to play like long matches right now, because right now if you play long matches, you start to feel it again in your feeling on the court."

En route to winning the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany in 2018, Pliskova scored a 7-6(4), 6-3 victory over Kudermetova in the pair's lone prior meeting that unfolded in inverse fashion to Sunday evening's affair.

The Russian had her opportunities on the German clay, as she led by a break in the first set and also held the lead in the tiebreak, but was the first to fall behind in the hard court rematch when she lost serve in the fourth game.

A run of six straight points, capped by an emphatic love hold, helped the Czech stretch out a 4-1 opening set lead, and she pushed for a subsequent break in the next game by forcing Kudermetova to deuce. 

The Russian withstood 11 aces off of the Pliskova racquet, nonetheless managing to create a staggering 13 break point chances over the course of the upset.

"I think in the beginning, in the middle of that first set, I tried to feel the speed of her serve," Kudermetova said. "I tried to push every point on receiving. I think it was key. I tried to just keep going on her serve."

Conversely, she protected her own serve well, and after being broken in the fourth game of the opener, never again faced break point until she saved Pliskova's lone other chance in the match's final game.

The victory is Kudermetova's third career win over a Top 10 player, as the Russian took out Belinda Bencic in Wuhan and Elina Svitolina on home soil in Moscow last fall, needing three sets for both wins before earning the tight-two set victory over the former World No.1 under the New York lights.

"I think I have more confidence [with the] last year, but I think it was the good feeling right now," Kudermetova added.

"I can compete with the best players, and today I win. I'm really happy. I think it's given me more confidence. I can beat and compete with the best players in the world."

Making her second career appearance at the Western & Southern Open, having qualified last summer before losing in the second round, Kudermetova now takes over the top of the women's draw and will face the winner of the second-round match between No.14 seed Elise Mertens and Kristina Mladenovic for a spot in the quarterfinals.