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Ukraine’s third racket Marta Kostyuk (# 78 WTA) finished her singles competition at the Australian Open Tennis Championships.
In the first round, the 18-year-old Ukrainian lost to 32nd Russian seed Veronica Kudermetova (No. 36 WTA).
Australian Open. First circle
Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine) – Veronika Kudermetova (Russia) – 2: 6, 6: 7 (5)
Both tennis players started the game badly. The level of tennis was as low as possible, the previous head-to-head match in Abu Dhabi cannot be compared. But if Kudermetova gained confidence and added with each blow, then Kostyuk did not progress for a long time. The match of the first set turned into suffering for the fans, Marta did not hit almost anything (for example, 0-7 winners / not forced from the right). Even the branded starts on the grid were few and often ended in unusual mistakes for a Ukrainian.
The situation on the court changed only after a few games in the second set. The Russian woman relented a little, leading with a pause, and Marta reached three. Then there was a completely different game. Kostyuk has become much more self-confident, stability has appeared with the points won on her serve. All this led to Marta being the first to reach the set points in the tenth game, but, having played openly passively, she could not notice them.
The match came to a tie-break, where the Russian went ahead with a mini-break. The Ukrainian managed to level the score before the transition, the game was on an equal footing, but Kudermetova’s nerves were stronger. With the score 5: 5, Kostyuk could not reach the net during a prolonged rally and that was it.
Today we saw how strict quarantine can affect the game of tennis players. They both stayed at the hotel for two weeks and only had a week to prepare. The difference between the two parties in 2021 is obvious. As for Marta, it is a pity that for the second time she did not implement set points against Kudermetova, in today’s third set she would have been the favorite.
Note that Kostyuk lost both full-time matches against the Russian woman. This was Kudermetova’s eighth consecutive victory over the Ukrainians.
In the next round, Veronica will play Varvara Gracheva (No. 95 WTA) or Anna Blinkova (No. 61 WTA). They both represent Russia.
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