(Madrid) Veronika Kudermetova reached the semi-finals of a WTA 1000 tournament for the first time by upsetting third seed Jessica Pegula 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 at the Madrid Open.

Ranked 12th, Kudermetova confirmed her victory with an ace on her second match point. This victory will allow him to face the No. 1 Iga Swiatek or Petra Martic, who will face each other later Wednesday, in the semi-finals.

Pegula was trying to reach the final of the Madrid tournament for the second time in a row. She lost to Ons Jabeur last year.

It is a fourth victory in a row in three sets for Kudermetova.

The Russian has reached three quarter-finals of WTA 1000 tournaments, all in 2022, including at Roland-Garros. The 26-year-old has reached two more semi-finals this year, in Adelaide, Australia and Doha, Qatar. She came to Madrid on a series of four losses.

Pegula had some trouble on the serve. She was broken on three occasions in the first and third sets, quite in contrast to the second, where she only needed 22 minutes and in which Kudermetova won just five rallies.

The other semi-final in the women’s draw will pit second seed Aryna Sabalenka against ninth-seeded Maria Sakkari.