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Russia’s Kudermetova through to 3rd Round of 2021 Australian Open

Veronika Kudermetova defeated her compatriot Varvara Gracheva

Veronika Kudermetova AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

Veronika Kudermetova

© AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/. Russian tennis player Veronika Kudermetova cleared second round of the 2021 Australian Open, which kicked off on February 8, after defeating on Wednesday her compatriot Varvara Gracheva.

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It took the 23-year-old Russian, seeded 32nd, little over two hours to defeat 20-year-old Gracheva 5-7; 6-2; 6-2.

Kudermetova’s best result at the Grand Slam tennis tournaments so far was reaching the third round of the 2019 French Open.

She is now set to face in third round the winner of the match between Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic and 2nd-seed Simona Halep of Romania.

The 2021 Australian Open tournament is played at Melbourne Park between February 8 and 21 and it offers $61 million in prize money. Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Sofia Kenin of the United States are the defending champions at the 2021 Australian Open in men and women’s singles respectively.

This year’s opening Grand Slam tennis tournament is held with a limited number of spectators in attendance due to safety measures against COVID-19 pandemic. The allowed daily number of spectators at all courts stands at 30,000, which is half of the regular attendance.

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