Kudermetova starts from scratch: "My problem has been the expectations"

There is no exact day, not even a reason, it just comes a moment where a player who was always there, suddenly is not. She sinks in the rankings, without you realizing it, losing positions, relevance, until you stop to look for her and discover that the woman who had settled in the top 10, is now struggling not to fall out of the top 100. We are talking about Veronika Kudermetova, although more than one could fit into this suit. What caused her free fall in the rankings? What has she done to be back bordering the top 50?

I wish to have all the answers, or at least have a little more depth in her answers, but this conversation that Kudermetova had at the table of Tennis Channel after surpassing the debut of the WTA 500 de Charleston helps us to understand the story a little better. Her journey to hell is no different from the others: explosion, settlement, pressure, sinking, and recovery. Fortunately, the one from Kazan is already in the final stage, the one that will really put her in the place she deserves. The potential and the shots are still there, although everything would have gone much slower if it hadn't been for her sister Polina, six years younger and only seven positions below Veronika.

Reasons for a bad run

"The last two years have been very difficult for me, let's say I have not shown the desired level or achieved the results I expected. Now every match I play is a challenge, so I focus on not losing concentration and doing my job well. The problem I had was the expectations, if you have expectations, it's hard for things to work out, so now I work thinking only about enjoying on the court, although I recognize it's not easy. I went from having high expectations to having none."

The role of her sister

"Honestly, my little sister has been a daily source of motivation for me. I remember at the beginning of the year, when she made it to the finals in Brisbane, she would tell me: 'Veronika, you have to wake up, you have to wake up!'. Those words made me wake up, definitively, they led me to see everything in a different way and start doing everything a little better. The problem is that now my father suffers for both of us, he may be present in my match but at the same time, you will see him following my sister's score if she is playing at the same time."

Polina's leap in quality

"She always tries to work very hard, although lately I know she has had problems with health, with the coach, with all those things. I am very proud to see all that she is achieving, it is very positive to have someone from your family on the circuit, so hopefully one day we can play doubles together, it is one of my short-term goals. I am excited to see how we function as a team."

Ambitions for 2025

"I want to win as many matches as possible, prove to myself what I am capable of [...] Of course, one dreams of returning to the top 10 again, sharing that place with the best players in the world, but I know there is a lot of hard work to do before that, so we'll see. I want to think that today I am a better player, a better person, I am also older, more mature."

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Kudermetova empieza de cero: “Mi problema han sido las expectativas”