Veronika Kudermetova gets into heated argument with chair umpire, disses line judge during Italian Open QF
Veronika Kudermetova engaged in a heated arguement with the chair umpire over a supposedly faulty call from the line judge during her Italian Open quarterfinal match.
Kudermetova squared off against Qinwen Zheng in the quarterfinals in Rome on Tuesday, May 16. Despite dropping the first set, the Russian raised her serve to good effect to claim the following set.
Leading 3-0 in the decider, Kudermetova saw a return shot from Zheng bounce roughly close to the sideline. She argued that the ball had pitched outside the line. However, the chair umpire, with the assistance of the line judge, opined otherwise.
Kudermetova was stunned to hear the umpire's claim, further asserting that the line judge was "old" and that it was a clear "mistake" from his side.
"This is your mistake, yeah? Who will take care about this one? I mean, if I did mistake, you give me fine or something," she said.
"This is like a joke. He is very old. I mean, who will pay for that mistake?," Kudermetova asserted.
wish more umpires were like this. admits he missed where the mark was, defers to the linesman, and explains the situation calmly and clearly. https://t.co/vxllwAxc2I
Despite the controversial point going Zheng's way, Kudermetova claimed the decider to ultimately win the match 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. With the victory, she advanced to her second consecutive WTA 1000 semifinal.
During her on-court interview, she stated that her improved results in recent times is a consequence of a calm and composed mindset.
"The last few weeks I started to play better," Veronika Kudermetova said. "A lot of good wins. I started to play more consistently. I think I am a little more calm, focused on improving, and do the right things, because before I tried to play good and show results.
"It's also not easy to maintain that focus, that you just need to work, improve, stay calm, and think positive. This is the hard work but it's the most important work for me. I try to follow that plan and for the moment it works," she added.
Veronika Kudermetova to play against Anhelina Kalinina in the Italian Open semifinals
Veronika Kudermetova will play against Anhelina Kalinina in the semifinal of the Italian Open on Friday, May 19. This will be their third meeting on the tour.
The duo's first meeting saw Kudermetova register a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 comeback win against Kalinina in the 2019 Linz Open second round. However, Kalinina levelled their head-to-head at the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships, prevailing 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 over the Russian in the first round.
Kalinina defeated Beatriz Haddad Maia to reach the semifinals of the Italian Open.