Venus Williams delights with first win over top 20 player in four years, defeats Kudermetova at Cincinnati Open
WTATuesday, 15 August 2023 at 07:08
Venus Williams has claimed her first top 20 win in four years defeating Veronika Kudermetova, the no.16 seed 6-4, 7-5 on Monday at the Cincinnati Open.
Williams is ranked No.533 and at the age of 43 continues to make comeback after comeback to the sport and showed why on Monday at the Western & Southern Open. She took down Kudermetova after just under two hours, albeit a match that was fraught by rain delays.
Kudermetova lead 4-1 in both sets and had two set points to level the match at 1-1 at 5-2 and 5-3. But Williams came back twice albeit this was helped in part by rain delays when the former had the impetus.
In terms of winners, it was the 16th seed with 16 who had the impetus, but 33 unforced errors proved costly with Williams also converting 6/9 break points.
"Definitely satisfaction from today is [from] all the work that goes into just being here at all," Williams said, after her win.
"I did my best to be here as soon as possible in the best form possible I could bring in that amount of time. So that makes it satisfying, to be able to get a win with very little time to prepare."
Sloane Stephens also moved through taking down Elisabetta Cocciaretto 7-5, 6-2 and will now face Caroline Garcia. Fans though didn't get to see Caroline Wozniacki - Elina Svitolina. Rain delays affected the remainder of play after Anhelina Kalinina, Jasmine Paolini and Anastasia Potapova all won through.
Karolina Muchova - Beatriz Haddad Maia began, but was not completed as cancelled and interrupted matches will carry over until Tuesday.
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.
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