Veronika Kudermetova clinched her first WTA title in two and a half years with a 7-5 6-1 victory over Jessica Pegula in the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis.
After winning her maiden career title at the 2021 Volvo Car Open in Charleston, Kudermetova faced a string of defeats in four consecutive finals, including a loss at ‘s-Hertogenbosch in June of this year. This unfavorable streak, however, has now been emphatically halted as the resilient Russian powered past Pegula for the second time in their two career encounters.
After an exchange of breaks, the first set of the Tokyo final was locked at 5-5. Reflecting on this pivotal juncture in the post-match interview, Kudermetova said: “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.” This mental fortitude propelled her through the second set, where she secured victory on her third match point.
En route to the WTA 500 title at the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis, the world No.19 Kudermetova triumphed over Harriet Dart, Kayla Day, Iga Swiatek, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and lastly Jessica Pegula for her second Top 5 win of the week.
The newly-crowned Tokyo champion wore the exquisite pale pink python print EA7 dress,…
