Veronika Kudermetova defeated 22nd-seeded Madison Keys 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the French Open at Paris on Monday.
The Russian’s win over Keys put her in a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time.
Keys advanced to the semifinals in Paris in 2018 and at the Australian Open earlier this year. She cruised through the opening set before the wheels came off in the second and finished with 31 unforced errors against 26 winners.
Kudermetova, seeded 29th, faces fellow Russian Daria Kasatkina in the quarterfinals. She had 21 winners against 20 unforced errors.
“Sometimes I tried to play harder, sometimes with the spin, a little smarter. I did a good job today,” Kudermetova said after the match Monday.
No. 20 Kasatkina’s 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 28 Camila Giorgi of Italy also represents her best showing in a Grand Slam.
Meanwhile, top-seeded Iga Swiatek increased her winning streak to 32 consecutive matches with a 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-2 victory over China’s Zheng Qinwen to reach the quarterfinals for the third straight year. Swiatek won the 2020 crown.
Swiatek let a 5-2 lead in the first set get away and she failed to convert five set points. The 19-year-old Zheng trailed 5-2 in the tiebreak before scoring five straight points to end an 82-minute set.
That marked the first time Swiatek lost a set since April 23 when Russian Liudmila Samsonova won the first set of their semifinal match in Stuttgart.
Zheng lost the first three games of the second set and used a medical timeout to get her upper right leg taped up. But her movement was hindered and she was unable to make a run at halting Swiatek’s winning streak.
“She played amazing tennis,” Swiatek said of her opponent. “I was surprised with some of her shots, her top spin was amazing. Huge congrats to her. I am happy to come back after a frustrating first set when I had the lead. I am proud to be still in the tournament.”
Swiatek was far from top form, totaling more unforced errors (39) than winners (32). Zheng made 46 unforced errors and hit 21 winners.
Swiatek next faces No. 11 seed Jessica Pegula, who reached her second Grand Slam quarterfinal of the year by beating Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. It is the first time Pegula has reached the final eight at Roland Garros.
Pegula was a quarterfinalist at the Australian Open in January.
She wasn’t overly sharp against Begu as she had nearly twice as many unforced errors (34) as winners (19). But Begu also struggled with 42 errors against 23 winners.
Americans Sloane Stephens and Coco Gauff also have advanced to the French Open quarterfinals.
–Field Level Media
