Paula Badosa Gilbert after clinching an epic Round of 32 win against Alizé Cornet of France, faced Veronika Kudermetova of Russia in the Round of 16 of the on-going Abu Dhabi Open 2021.
A battle of two emerging sensations of women’s tennis, the match went to the third set after each of them won one set each out of the first two sets. Veronika Kudermetova had to face the ravishing backhands of Paula Badosa Gilbert but her two-handed backhands proved to be her trump card as she clinched the first set 6-4.
From the beginning of the second set, Badosa displayed some great sense of gameplay as her powerful backhands did their job this time accompanied by a couple of well-knitted forehands as she won the second set 6-4. But, the third and the final set proved to be unexpectedly devastating as Paula Badosa Gilbert was not allowed by Veronika to find her feet as the Russian world #46 thrashed the Spanish tennis beauty 6-1 in the third set thus, claiming a thumping victory and also, taking herself all the way into the Round of 8.
This match also witnessed 15 aces out of which, 10 were of Veronika Kudermetova while the remaining 5 came from Paula Badosa’s racquet. Presently, Veronika Kudermetova has got zero singles titles for her name and she will be surely willing to clinch her maiden trophy.
Just hours after the match, Paula Badosa Gilbert posted on her social media handles congratulating Veronika for her win over Badosa and the 23-year old Spanish tennis beauty quoted, “Sometimes you win. Sometimes you learn. Just need to keep working hard!” Her sense of gamesmanship or better, ‘gameswomanship’ has touched the hearts of millions of tennis admirers across the globe.
Veronika Kudermetova will be facing Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in her Round of 8 tie of the Abu Dhabi Open 2021 on 11th January.