Iga Swiatek of Poland (L) shakes hands with winner Veronika Kudermetova of Russia (R) after their women's singles quarter-final match on day five of the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament in Tokyo on September 29, 2023. Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP
Tokyo: Four-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek crashed out of the quarter-finals at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo on Friday, beaten by Russia's Veronika Kudermetova.
Kudermetova, ranked 19th, moves to the semi-finals after serving four aces and beating the world number two 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in 2 hours 21 minutes.
"My service worked really well today," the 26-year-old said after the match.
"In the last game, I tried to focus that I need to play point, I don't need to hit the ace and I just need to put the serve in and try to play a rally," she said.
Kudermetova will face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, ranked 86th, on Saturday.
"It'll be an interesting and a very tough match," Kudermetova said.
On Friday afternoon, world number four Jessica Pegula faces 26-year-old Russian Daria Kasatkina, ranked 13th.
World number six Maria Sakkari and number 10 Caroline Garcia will face off in the evening.
Sakkari ended her four-year wait for a second WTA title at the Guadalajara Open last week, where she beat Garcia in the semi-finals enroute to lifting the trophy.
