Veronika Kudermetova defeats top seed Iga Swiatek in Tokyo
Iga Swiatek was dumped out of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in the quarter-finals by Russian Veronika Kudermetova.
Top seed Swiatek, who was recently overtaken as world number one by Aryna Sabalenka, had never previously lost a set against Kudermetova but swiftly found herself 4-0 down in Tokyo.
The Pole made 50 unforced errors in total and, although she responded well to take the second set, Kudermetova was the better in the decider, winning 6-2 2-6 6-4.
"I tried to just believe that I can beat her," said the Russian, ranked 19. "Today it happened. I'm really happy that I managed to switch (the head-to-head) and win one match."
Kudermetova will next face compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who defeated another Russian, Ekaterina Alexandrova, 6-2 7-5.
Maria Sakkari, fresh from winning the biggest title of her career in Guadalajara, reached the last four with a 6-2 6-2 win over Caroline Garcia and will take on second seed Jessica Pegula, who crushed Daria Kasatkina 6-1 6-0.
The Ningbo Open final, meanwhile, will be between three-time grand slam finalist Ons Jabeur and 19-year-old Russian Diana Shnaider.
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