Kostyuk disturbs Gauff in Doha; First big shakes in the WTA 1000 season

Marta Kostyuk was 14 years old when she won the Australian open junior title.

“I mean, who does, right?” Her coach Sandra Zaniewska, Wtatennis.com told earlier this year. “I think there were many expectations that were placed on her, not only by the world, but even even at a very young age that she might not meet.

“Because when you win Australia Juniors, you probably think next year you win seniors. And then it doesn’t happen and you ask yourself, ‘I’m not a good player anymore?’ So she has been through much of this. Now it’s probably the time when it sets a little more, right? “

Right.

Tuesday stunned Kostyuk No. 3-seeded Coco Gauff with a powerful 6-2, 7-5 win at the Qatar TotalEnervies Open. The 22-year-old from Ukraine plays a third round match against Magda Linette.

Gauff, who serves to reach another set of tiebreak, committed back-to-back double fault, her sixth and seventh of the match, to give Kostyuk to match points. She converted the second when Gauff’s backhand found the network.

Kostyuk had lost all three previous matches to Gauff in tough courts; Gauff was the highest ranked player she has ever beaten on this surface.

“Coco is an incredible fighter,” Kostyuk said in his on-Court interview. “We always have incredible matches. I tried to stick to what I had to do. I am very glad it worked in two sets. “

Gauff ended with 39 unparalleled errors and only eight winners marking its third straight loss in Doha. She fell in her opener last year to Katerina Siniakova and went out in the quarterfinals in 2022 and 2023.

Still, on his way into his second round match against Kostyuk, the 20-year-old American had won 17 just against opponents ranked outside the top 20.

Kostyuk, currently No. 21 in PIF WTA Rankings, is not a classic top 20 outsider. She began her career losing 14 straight matches against the top 10 players-she is 9-6 since.

She has steadily increased through the rows. She saw that her location hovered as high as No. 16 last year and ended at No. 18. Kostyuk, a two-time finalist last year, has created all kinds of expectations, and this victory will certainly have appetite for even more.

The first set was a microcosm of Gauff’s occasional matches in the opening set. She won fewer than half of her first-serving points and was broken three times. There were three double faults and 19 unfair errors, most of them on the front side.

Gauff came out of the second set of greater intensity and accuracy. Her serving was better and her foundation more precise. She broke Kostyuk in the third game and saved two set points of 3-2 to maintain that margin.

But more errors from Gauff allowed Kostyuk to break through to level that matches 4-all. It remained that way until Kostyuk broke through at the end.

Back in January, Zaniewska fitted about Kostyuk’s game:

“It knows that she has that she has all The possibilities, she can hit any shot, ”said Zaniewska. “She can really play so many different gaming styles, it’s just a matter of choosing. It took some time. In the beginning, she was confused – but she was engaged. Eventually it clicked on. “

Kostyuk’s difficulty has come to be too harsh towards himself. At. 22 – AGE OF A Typical College Senior – Maybe she learns to ease.

“There is more room to grow and go through these things in a calmer way,” Zaniewska said. “It was chaotic earlier. There was a lot of attention, which is difficult for any child. It listens with compassion and understanding to the player – actually listens to this person.

“These are challenges that everyone deals with.”

Challenges based on the spectacular early return in Doha that Kostyuk seems ready to overcome.