MOSCOW, September 29. /TASS/. Russia's Veronika Kudermetova defeated Poland's Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) tournament in Tokyo.

The meeting ended 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in favor of Kudermetova, seeded number eight at the tournament. Swiatek was the number one seed. In the semifinals, the Russian will play compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova (6-2, 7-5) in the quarterfinals.

Swiatek was playing in her first tournament since losing her World number one ranking. On September 11, Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka ousted the Polish player from the top spot. Swiatek had been the world’s top-ranked player for the last 75 weeks.

Kudermetova, 26, is ranked 19th in the WTA rankings. She has one win at tournaments under the auspices of the organization. Her best result at Grand Slam tournaments is reaching the quarterfinals of the French Open 2022. In 2021, as a member of the Russian team, Kudermetova won the Billie Jean King Cup.

Swiatek is 22 years old, and has 15 WTA titles to her name. The Polish player has won four Grand Slams: three French Opens (2020, 2022, 2023) and one US Open (2022).

The hard-court tournament in Tokyo belongs to the WTA 500 category. The total prize fund is over $780,000. Last year's champion was Russian Liudmila Samsonova. Other Russians to win the tournament include Nadezhda Petrova, Maria Sharapova, Dinara Safina and Yelena Dementieva.