Cincinnati Open 2025: Jasmine Paolini vs Veronika Kudermetova preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick

Match Details

Fixture: (7) Jasmine Paolini vs Veronika Kudermetova

Date: August 17, 2025

Tournament: Cincinnati Open

Round: Semifinal

Venue: Lindner Family Tennis Center, Mason, Ohio, US

Category: WTA 1000

Surface: Hard

Prize Money: $5,152,599

Live Telecast: USA - Tennis Channel, TC Plus | UK - Sky Sports | Canada - TSN

Jasmine Paolini vs Veronika Kudermetova preview

Jasmine Paolini at the Cincinnati Open 2025. (Photo: Getty)

Seventh seed Jasmine Paolini will take on Veronika Kudermetova in the semifinals of the Cincinnati Open 2025.

Paolini beat Maria Sakkari, 26th seed Ashlyn Krueger, and two-time Major champion Barbora Krejcikova, all in straight sets, to make the quarterfinals. She was up against second-seed Coco Gauff for a spot in the semifinals. The Italian was off to a slow start, dropping the first three games of the opening set.

Paolini brought Gauff's momentum to a halt with a two-game run but lost the next three games to concede the set. Both players remained steady on serve at the start of the second set, but found it tough to do so towards the end.

There were five consecutive service breaks in the latter part of the set, with the Italian coming out on top to take the set. Paolini went up a break twice in the third set, only for Gauff to negate her lead. However, she raised her level in the closing stages of the match, bagging three games on the trot to beat the American 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Kudermetova scored wins over Suzan Lamens, top 20 players Belinda Bencic and Clara Tauson, and 31st seed Magda Linette to reach the quarterfinals, where qualifier Varvara Gracheva awaited her. The Russian played her best match of the tournament, dropping only three games en route to a dominant 6-1, 6-2 win.

Jasmine Paolini vs Veronika Kudermetova head-to-head

Kudermetova leads their rivalry 2-0 in main draw matches at the WTA level. She won their previous meeting at the Cincinnati Open 2021 in straight sets.

Jasmine Paolini vs Veronika Kudermetova odds

Player	Moneyline	Handicap Bets	Total Games
Jasmine Paolini	-120	+1.5 (-300)	Over 21.5 (-145)
Veronika Kudermetova	+100	-1.5 (+200)	Under 21.5 (-105)

(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)

Jasmine Paolini vs Veronika Kudermetova prediction

Veronika Kudermetova at the Cincinnati Open 2025. (Photo: Getty)

Kudermetova didn't face a single break point in the previous round against Gracheva, playing some of her best tennis to reach her first WTA 1000 semifinal since the Italian Open 2023. She's bidding to advance to her maiden WTA 1000 final in singles.

Paolini secured her place in the Cincinnati Open semifinals with a comeback win over Gauff, notching up her best result at the tournament. She's into her third WTA 1000 semifinal this year, and won the Italian Open a few months ago.

Kudermetova won their most recent meeting at the Cincinnati Open 2021 for the loss of five games. However, that was before Paolini's ascension as a top player in the game.

The Russian has also lost her last nine matches against top 10 players. While Paolini's level was quite inconsistent throughout her match against Gauff, her defensive capabilities could help her survive Kudermetova's offensive onslaught.

Pick: Jasmine Paolini to win in three sets.

About the author

Rohit is a journalist at Sportskeeda who specializes in covering tennis. Having been with the company for three years, he has proven himself as a formidable force in the field. With a Master's degree in law, Rohit brings his analytical and research skills to the forefront as a journalist. He stays on top of the game by using social media platforms and never misses a match for on-court insights. He values giving credit where it's due, keeping his reporting fair and accurate.

At the outset of his career, Rohit found his niche in writing previews and SEO pieces and it's this expertise that continues to define his role at Sportskeeda. He is particularly proud of one article that garnered an impressive 750k views and surpassed his "wildest dreams." Rohit is not particularly fond of (GOAT) debates and it is one of the reasons why he left the legal world behind. He prefers to view players in "tiers," where they're all esteemed to an extent. However, if pressed to name favorites, he would choose Serena and Venus Williams. The Williams sisters' journey from humble beginnings to the pinnacle of tennis has been his greatest source of inspiration.

When he isn't busy making spot-on predictions about match outcomes, Rohit likes reading, particularly fantasy, sci-fi, and comics. As an X-Men fanatic, he's also passionate about board games and enjoys watching movies in his spare time. And don't be surprised if you catch him silently wishing to the tennis gods for the removal of ad scoring from doubles.

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Edited by Rohit