No.6 seed Veronika Kudermetova pulled off a remarkable escape from five match points down to defeat No.10 seed Danielle Collins 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-1 in the Adelaide International 2 quarterfinals. In the last four, she will resume her long-standing rivalry with No.8 seed Belinda Bencic, who took out No.4 seed Caroline Garcia 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in 1 hour and 53 minutes.
Kudermetova's only previous encounter with the American had been a straightforward 6-3, 6-2 win in the second round of Miami 2021. This time round, though, she needed to come back from the brink of defeat against last year's Australian Open finalist.
Adelaide 2: Badosa outlasts Haddad Maia, will meet Kasatkina
Collins had kept her nose in front through a tight first set and most of a second. But No.9-ranked Kudermetova, having failed to serve the second set out at 5-4, needed to fend off five match points serving at 5-6. She saved two with service winners and another with a sizzling forehand winner; Collins missed the remaining two with forehand errors.
Collins also led 4-1 in the ensuing tiebreak, only to relinquish her lead amidst another flurry of errors. WTA Finals doubles champion Kudermetova's net prowess came to the fore as she came out on top of a rat-a-tat net exchange to convert her first set point.
The decider was more closely contested than the scoreline suggests, with Kudermetova coming through three multi-deuce tussles as she gradually extended her lead. But the 25-year-old had crucially raised her first serve percentage from a subpar 50% in the first set to 71% in the second and 57% in the third.
By the closing stages, Collins had moved away from her usual power tactics to incorporate dropshots and slices, which had little effect on Kudermetova's momentum. A pair of double faults nearly landed Kudermetova in trouble in the final game, but she made up for those with service winners that staved two break points off and converted her second match point.
"I'm really happy about my performance today, because it was really tough from the start of the match," said Kudermetova. "I don't know if I showed my best tennis today, but I showed my best from the mental part because I tried to fight, I tried to give everything. It's not just a practice before the Grand Slam, I want to give everything on the court."
The victory completes a fine day for the Kudermetova family after Veronika's younger sister Polina, 19, qualified for her first Grand Slam main draw at the Australian Open.
Head to Head
- Sorry, we couldn't find any players that match your search.
- Sorry, we couldn't find any players that match your search.
In the last match of the day, Bencic improved to 2-0 against Garcia and 16-10 against Top 5 opposition after a fine display of serving from both players. Garcia sent down 11 aces and won 77% of her first serve points; Bencic fired nine aces and won 78% of her first serve points. Each set was thus decided by the finest of margins.
Bencic was able to read the Garcia serve perfectly in the first set, using deep returns to draw errors from the Frenchwoman's forehand. But Garcia hit back in a flawless second set in which she did not drop a point behind her first delivery.
Bencic moved out to a 3-1 lead in the third set before being pegged back to 3-3. But leading 5-4, the Swiss player went up a gear on defence, scrambling around the court to keep the ball in play. She saved game point with her best shot of the match, a backhand pass down the line, and converted match point by drawing a Garcia error with a forehand down the line.
Highlights: Bencic d. Garcia
"The key was for sure to hold the serve," said Bencic. "I think we both served great, and it's tough to return against Caroline. At times, I felt I was playing Russian roulette. She's stepping in a lot, I'm also holding my baseline, and it was a battle of who can do it better.
"If you see her court position, [the body serve] is the most logical thing to do. I know how it feels, because I also stand very far inside the baseline. It's a little tactical, but you still have to make a good serve. We didn't have many rallies, so it was about mentally keeping the focus up."
Kudermetova and Bencic will be facing off for the 10th time at pro level in a rivalry that goes back to their junior days. Bencic leads the head-to-head 5-4, including two out of their three 2022 encounters.
