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Russian world No. 19 Veronika Kudermetova revealed she started practicing like her life was on the line following the Wimbledon ban. Kudermetova got off to a good start to her grass season as she reached the 's-Hertogenbosch semifinal and Berlin quarterfinal, respectively.
After two strong runs in 's-Hertogenbosch and Berlin, Kudermetova didn't get a chance to conclude her good grass season with a strong Wimbledon run. This week, Kudermetova kicked off her summer on hard courts at the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose.
After handing Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur a 7-6 (5) 6-2 loss, Kudermetova revealed what was her mentality following the Wimbledon ban. “I worked really hard every day, like I die on the court,” Kudermetova said, per The San Francisco Chronicle.
“I came back on the tour much stronger”.
Kudermetova beats Jabeur again
Jabeur is the fifth-ranked player in the world but she simply can't get a win over Kudermetova. On Friday, Kudermetova defeated Jabeur to improve their head-to-head to 3-0.
“I know Ons is a very tricky opponent,” Kudermetova said. “I really worked hard today, and I'm really happy about my win”. Kudermetova claimed the first break of the match in the third game, but got broken back in the fourth game.
As no more breaks were seen, the first set had to be resolved in a tie-break. In the tie-break, Jabeur recovered from a 5-2 deficit to tie the tie-break to five points apiece, before Kudermetova won the next two points to win a tight opener.
After winning a very tight first set, Kudermetova broke Jabeur three times in the second set to complete a straight-set win. “I remember her game, her tactics, and I tried to just play my game,” Kudermetova said.
“I’m tried to focus on my plan because I know I needed to play fast, don’t give her any time for a drop shot or slice”.