Sixth seed Veronika Kudermetova squares off against former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in the round of 32 of the Adelaide International 2 on Monday.
The 25-year-old played in the Adelaide International 1 prior to this event. She entered the tournament as the fourth-seeded player.
Kudermetova began the new season with a comprehensive thrashing of Amanda Anisimova in the round of 32 of the Adelaide International. The match ended 6-3, 6-0 in favor of the Russian star. Kudermetova carried the good form into her match in the round of 16 against Bianca Andreescu. Kudermetova made light work of the Canadian player and won the match 6-4, 6-0. The world No. 9 crashed out of the WTA 500 event in the quarterfinals after losing to Romanian veteran Irina-Camelia Begu.
The Belarusian veteran also took part in the Adelaide International 1. She performed decently in the tournament and like Kudermetova, lost in the quarterfinals.
Azarenka began with a hard-fought win against Anhelina Kalinina in the round of 32. The match ended in straight sets but both sets were closely-fought. The two-time Grand Slam champion went on to defeat Qinwen Zheng of China in the round of 16. This match was also settled in straight sets but wasn’t as much of a humdinger as Azarenka’s first match. The 33-year-old eventually lost to Linda Noskova in three sets in what was an absolute slugfest.
Veronika Kudermetova leads the head-to-head scoreline 1-0. She defeated Azarenka in the round of 32 of the 2022 Dubai Tennis Championships in straight sets.
Prediction: Veronika Kudermetova to win in three sets.
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