That’s a wrap for the 2021 Volvo Car Open in Charleston. The tournament concluded on Sunday as the number 15 seed, Veronika Kudermetova won her first WTA title with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Danka Kovinic in the final. If you’re still in the mood for some green clay court tennis then there is a 250 event in Charleston next week with Ons Jabeur headlining and quite a few players who were in the Bogota draw. I plan to be back for Stuttgart, another one of my favourite tournaments that was sorely missed in 2020. Read on for the final diary from Charleston…

Final result 

Kudermetova’s route through the Charleston draw was as routine as it gets. Kudermetova didn’t drop a set and also, didn’t drop more than four games in any of the 12 sets that she played!

In the final, and as she has done all week, Kudermetova committed to being aggressive and going after her shots. The execution wasn’t always there but she played the big points well. I think Kudermetova has a decent mentality which counts for so much these days. There were no signs or vibes that she was going to get tight at the end and she served out the match in convincing fashion.

I like Kudermetova’s game and it has various dimensions such as being comfortable at the net and having an excellent drop shot. Kudermetova’s serve is a real asset and I was surprised to hear on the coverage that she is now the ace leader for the WTA in 2021, passing Ash Barty after today’s match!

Recommended media 📺

Kudermetova in the Tennis Channel studio after her title win.

Recommended listening 🎧

Really enjoyed listening to the last two Racquet Magazine podcasts with Venus Williams and Jessica Pegula. The Venus interview is not the easiest listen with the audio but it is well worth persevering with as there are some fascinating tidbits.

Memories 

It’s been wonderful to watch tennis in Charleston this year. I think the tournament is undertaking some renovation work on their main stadium so i’m looking forward to seeing that next year. I will remember the 2021 edition for low-key carnage with many of the seeds departing early. To be honest, I started to check out towards the end of the tournament because I didn’t have any strong preferences to the players left. It did give me a chance to watch some players that I hadn’t seen a great deal of before such as Paula Badosa and Danka Kovinic. I’ll remember this week for Kudermetova’s first WTA title and surely not her last. Top 30 now and I expect Kudermetova to keep on rising up the rankings.

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