Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk lost to American player Coco Gauff in a grueling battle for a spot in the semifinals of the 2024 Australian Open.
The match ended with the following result: Kostyuk - Gauff - 1:2 (6:7, 7:6, 2:6).
Ukrainian representative took the initiative on the court from the start. After a subtle debut, she unexpectedly surged ahead, leading with two breaks at 5:1. However, the American player, ranked in the top 5 globally, did not surrender and even managed to stage a comeback.
Gauff responded with three consecutive breaks and, with a successful serve of her own, even took the lead (6:5). However, the real drama unfolded in the fight to the last by Kostyuk. She once again broke her opponent's serve and brought the set to a tiebreak. Unfortunately, she narrowly lost there (6:8).
The second set was more evenly matched. Neither Gauff nor Kostyuk managed to create a significant advantage. They constantly went neck-and-neck, responding to each other's breaks with counter-breaks. As predicted, this led to another tiebreak. However, this time, the Ukrainian was unstoppable in the additional game (7:3).
The decisive set had to be played, and it turned out that Kostyuk didn't have enough emotional energy for another set in such a high-intensity mode. She lost five games from the start (three on her own serve), managing to avoid complete defeat only towards the end of the set. Gauff, after two points from the Ukrainian, closed the match with a "love" serve.
In the semi-final, the American tennis player will face the winner of the match between Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus and Czech player Barbora KrejÄíková. Meanwhile, thanks to her best performance in majors in her career, Kostyuk has earned an estimated $600,000 in prize money.
