WTA Brisbane: Qualifier Kudermetova through to biggest career final
The 21-year-old Russian is ranked No 107 in the world and is through to her first WTA 500 final
Polina Kudermetova (Zuma / Panoramic)
Russian qualifier Polina Kudermetova is through to the biggest final of her career with a win over Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina in the last four of the WTA Brisbane International on Saturday.
Kudermetova, ranked No 107 in the world, won 6-4, 6-3 to reach the final of the WTA 500 event.
The Russian, the younger sister of former top 10 player Veronika Kudermetova, will face Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, the top seed, or Russian Mirra Andreeva, the No 8 seed, in the final.
Her run this week, which spans seven wins across the qualifying and the main draw, will see Kudermetova break into the top 100 of the world rankings for the first time and she is projected to climb into the top 60 with her runner-up finish.
Kudermetova beat Chinese Xinyu Wang (6-1, 6-3), No 13 seed Liudmila Samsonova (6-7 (7), 6-3, 6-2), No 3 seed Daria Kasatkina (1-6, 6-2, 7-5) and American Ashlyn Krueger (7-6 (5), 6-3) earlier in the week.
In previous rounds, Kalinina, ranked No 55, benefited from the retirement of Chinese Yafan Wang (6-4, 2-0) and defeated Russian Diana Shnaider, the No 5 seed (6-3, 4-6, 6-1), Chinese Yue Yuan (6-1, 6-4) and Australian wildcard Kimberly Birrell (4-6, 6-1, 7-5).
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