Australian Open: Coco Gauff advances to the semi-finals in Melbourne at the expense of Marta Kostyuk – a roller-coaster ride in the quarter-finals

“I'm really proud of the fight you showed today. You left it all on the field,” Gauff said. In the first set, Kostyuk was already leading 5-1 and wasted two set points at 5-2 and then 6-5 in the tie-break. Gauff, in turn, used it for the first time to make it 8-6 and she remained a flawless starter in the fifth game in Melbourne.

The American also landed the first blow in the second round, but out of frustration, the Ukrainian threw her racket away at 2:3. At 5:3, Gauff was already close to reaching the semifinals, but allowed the world number 37, who had never reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal before, to draw again (5:5).

After twelve breaks in 22 service matches so far, both players suddenly dropped their serves. Entered the second tie-break, which this time was clearly controlled by Kostyuk (7-3).

Jove looked thoughtful. Both players left Rod Laver Arena in the shade at just under 30 degrees to make a short change and take a break, which clearly helped fourth place in the world rankings in particular.

As in the second set, the American started better with two breaks of serve in the deciding round. Looking desperate, Kostyuk threw her racket again at 0:2 0-40 and struggled to hold her box.

At 5-0, Gauff served again to win the match – and was broken again. Shortly afterwards she finished the match with her first match point and danced a little. The 19-year-old celebrated her 12th consecutive Grand Slam win.

In general, the match experienced more tension than separation; The two opponents committed a total of 107 unforced errors (Kostyuk 56, Gauff 51) with only 56 winners (Kostyuk 39, Gauff 17). In the end there were 16 breaks (7/14 Kostyuk, 9/22 Gauff).

Gauff scored only six more points than Kostyuk (126:120). Expert Barbara Rittner said: “The bottom line is that Kostyuk deserved to win the match.” Eurosport: “She lost the match in the first set when she had two set points. She still lacks a little bit of inner calm and looseness. For me, just in terms of playing, she has the quality needed to finish in the top five.”

Gauff has been in impressive form so far in 2024. At the start of the year, the world number four convincingly defended her title at the WTA Championships in Auckland and is 10-0 on the year.

The American has never gone beyond the round of 16 in Melbourne in four previous appearances.

Kostyuk had previously only reached the last 16 at a major tournament (2021 French Open). To reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, she can look forward to pocketing $600,000 AUD (about €360,000) in prize money. She will also move into the top 30 of the world rankings for the first time.

The quarter-finals will continue with the confrontation between Russian Anna Kalinskaya and Chinese Qinwen Cheng (No. 12) in the night session on Wednesday. Kostyuk, Nosková, Yastremska and Kalinskaya were all first-time major quarterfinal participants.

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