Iga Swiatek stunned by Veronika Kudermetova in Pan Pacific Open quarter-finals in Tokyo

Iga Swiatek fell to a shock defeat in the Pan Pacific Open quarter-finals, losing 6-2 2-6 6-4 to Veronika Kudermetova.

The former world No. 1 was broken in her first two service games in an alarming start as Kudermetova raced into a 4-0 lead in the opening set.

The Pole has landed a spree of bagels in recent months but looked to be staring down one herself when she went 30-40 behind in her next service game, but she managed to stave off the break point to finally get on the board.

It did not stop Kudermetova taking the first set, however, as she converted her third set point.

It looked like the comeback was on when Swiatek started the next set in rampant fashion by winning the first game to love, and followed that by breaking the Russian.

Another hold followed to move the four-time Grand Slam winner into a 3-0 lead, and it appeared that the momentum was shifting her way as she cruised to the second set.

But the cracks in the Swiatek armour became evident in the decider.

She succumbed to Kudermetova on her third break point at the end of a pulsating third game to go 2-1 down.

The Russian extended that lead on her serve, before Swiatek showed signs of a revival with a rare comfortable hold to love at 3-2 down.

But Kudermetova gave nothing away from that point and wrapped up the contest in the 10th game on her first match point to seal a place in the semi-finals, where she faces compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Saturday.

Speaking after the match in her on-court interview, she said: “I tried to just believe I can beat her. Today it happened. I’m really happy I managed to win one match.”