Jessica Pegula knocked out of Madrid Open as battling Veronika Kudermetova reaches semi-finals

Jessica Pegula was knocked out of the Madrid Open as Veronika Kudermetova reached the semi-finals despite battling an injury during the match. The 12th seed took the first set before having a medical timeout after being bagelled by Pegula in the second set, but fought back in fine style to seal a last-four match against either world No. 1 Iga Swiatek or Petra Martic.

Ad Kudermetova, playing in her first quarter-final on the WTA Tour since Doha in February, was into her stride early in the Spanish capital, building on her good form over the week to date to break Pegula in the very first game. WTA MadridSwiatek beats Pera, Pegula holds off Bouzkova on busy day at Madrid Open30/04/2023 AT 21:04 Pegula looked frustrated to have started the match on such a bad footing, but she rebounded straightaway to break her opponent straight back. It was, remarkably, her 157th break of the season far, a category she leads the tour in.

The American however was struggling to keep her serve away from Kudermetova's powerful returns, and she went 15-40 down in the next. She saved one break point to come back to 30-40, but then struck a simple forehand long to find herself, again, a break down at 1-2. Perhaps the encounter to date was reflective of the fact the pair had never played each other before, with both seeking to suss the other out in the early stages.