«Sensations on the Chinese court»: Polina Kudermetova defeats top-40 racket master

The prestigious women's international tournament BNB Ningbo Open, classified under the WTA 500 category, has entered its heat in Ningbo, China. Racket masters defending the honor of Uzbekistan in the main draw of this tournament, which has gathered the world's leading tennis stars — Kamilla Rakhimova and Polina Kudermetova — played their opening round matches.

According to the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Uzbekistan, the first-stage matches ended differently for the representatives of our national team: one of our tennis players recorded a dramatic sensation and advanced to the next round, while another conceded to her experienced opponent.

Victory for Kudermetova: Top-40 representative left stunned

Polina Kudermetova, ranked 102nd in the world rankings, stepped onto the court in the very first round against Spain's Cristina Bucșa, who is positioned much higher and is the 38th racket of the WTA rankings:

• Character in the first set: Our compatriot started the match with high willpower and defeated her opponent in a hard-fought tie-break — 7:6;

• Dominance in the second set: Continuing her confident play from the first set, Kudermetova took full control of the second set, winning 6:2 to secure a ticket to the round of 16.

Kamilla Rakhimova loses to a strong Czech player

The draw turned out to be quite difficult for Kamilla Rakhimova, who is recorded on the 69th line of the world rankings. In the first round, she competed against one of the tournament favorites, the skilled Czech tennis player and No. 28 in the WTA rankings, Marie Bouzková:

• Hard-fought battle in both sets: Despite Rakhimova's strong resistance, the opponent's experience proved decisive;

• Result: The match ended 4:6, 4:6 in favor of the Czech tennis player, and Kamilla concluded her singles participation in the tournament.

Super clash in the 1/8 finals: Opponent — world No. 1!

In the second round of the tournament, Polina Kudermetova faces one of the biggest tests of her career:

• Date: October 21;

• Match: Polina Kudermetova (Uzbekistan, 102) — Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan, 1);

• Match status: This clash against the world ranking leader is expected to become the main event of the central courts of the Ningbo tournament.