Two diametrically opposed styles

Polina Kudermetova embodies modern tennis in all its aggressiveness. Coming from the same school as her sister Veronika, she systematically looks to shorten rallies. Her game plan is simple: a big serve, a devastating first strike, and a constant desire to dictate the point. On the green clay of Charleston, which is a bit faster than European red clay, she has the weapons to overwhelm anyone. However, her weakness lies in how she handles frustration: as soon as the rally settles or her opponent breaks her rhythm, Polina tends to force her shots and pile up unforced errors.

Across the net, Oleksandra Oliynykova is a player with a completely atypical style, almost unique on the current tour. The Ukrainian, who reached her career-high ranking this year (66th), is famous for her massive use of moonballs (very high, loopy balls), forehand chops, and constant variations in trajectory. She doesn’t try to hit hard; she tries to make you miss. In her memorable first-round match at the Australian Open against Madison Keys, she showed that she could unsettle the best players in the world by denying them any sense of rhythm. She “breaks” the ball, changes heights, and uses unpredictable angles that prevent rhythm-based players like Kudermetova from organizing their game.

The whole key to the match will be Polina’s ability to stay calm in the face of the “weird things” (as Oleksandra calls them) that her opponent does. In Antalya last February, the pattern was crystal clear: Polina dominated the first set (6–1), hitting everything in sight, before getting completely tangled up as soon as Oliynykova started mixing things up and sending high balls. For Polina, playing Oliynykova is like trying to hit a mosquito with a club: it’s mentally exhausting. On clay, this variety is even more effective because the bounce amplifies the Ukrainian’s effects.