Marta defeated American Cori Gauff in the decisive tiebreaker.
p>Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk (No. 27 WTA) made it to the semi-finals of the WTA 500 tournament in Stuttgart. In the quarter finals, she beat the third racket of the world, American Cori Gauff.
The incredibly tense three-set match lasted 2 hours 50 minutes and ended in victory for the 21-year-old native of Kyiv with a score of 3:6, 6:4, 7: 6.
Note that in the third set, with the score 5:4 in her favor, Kostyuk did not convert three match points on the American’s serve. In the next game, Gauff made a break, but Marta managed to come back and take the match to a decisive tiebreaker.
In the tiebreaker, Kostyuk earned four match points, leading with a score of 6:2. However, the American was again able to win them all back. In the end, the Ukrainian took the next two rallies and scored a victory in this dramatic match from the eighth match point.
Review of the match Kostyuk – Gauff
This was the third personal meeting between Kostyuk and Gauff. The Ukrainian managed to defeat the American for the first time. The last time they played in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open 2024 – then Marta lost a three-set match with a score of 6:7, 7:6, 2:6.
The victory over Gauff became the highest-rated victory in Kostyuk’s career. Previously, her personal best was a victory over the fifth racket of the world, American Jessica Pegula, in the semifinals of a tournament in San Diego in early March 2024.
For Kostyuk, this is the sixth victory in her career over a tennis player from the top 10 in the world ranking and the third – this year. In the second round of the competition in Stuttgart, the Ukrainian won a very difficult victory over the seventh racket of the world, Chinese Zheng Qingwen.
Kostyuk reached the quarterfinals at WTA tournaments for the third time in a row. Before that, she reached the semifinals in Indian Wells (WTA 1000) and the final in San Diego (WTA 500).
In the semifinals, Marta will play against the eighth racket of the planet, Czech Marketa Vondrousova, who is the current Wimbledon champion . The leader of the world ranking, Poland's Iga Szwiatek, and the representative of Kazakhstan Elena Rybakina (No. 4 WTA) will compete for another ticket to the final.
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