US Open champion Coco Gauff has done her bit to lock in a rematch of the New York final, outlasting Marta Kostyuk in a rollercoaster Australian Open quarter-final on Tuesday.
In a contest involving 16 breaks of serve and a series of fightbacks from both players – none better than Gauff’s surge from 1-5 down in the first set – it was the American who prevailed, 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, after failing to serve the match out in the second set.
Coco Gauff crunches a forehand in her quarter-final against Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk on Tuesday.Credit: Chris Hopkins
It was a somewhat anti-climactic finish, given it took almost two-and-a-half hours to get through a seesawing opening two sets, although Gauff was again unable to clinch the match on serve at 5-0 in the final set.
She finally advanced to the semi-finals with a love hold, at her third attempt, after three hours and eight minutes on Rod Laver Arena, to book a semi-final against either defending champion Aryna Sabalenka or ninth seed Barbora Krejcikova. That pair will play their quarter-final on the same court on Tuesday night.
This is the third time Gauff has reached the final four at a grand slam, including making the 2022 Roland-Garros decider.
“I’m happy [and] really proud of the fight that I showed today,” Gauff said. “Marta’s a tough opponent. Every time we play, it is a tough match – I really fought and left it all on the court today.”
The 19-year-old fourth seed came from a set down to beat world No.2 Sabalenka in last year’s US Open final and looms as the major stumbling block to the Belarusian’s hopes of back-to-back titles at Melbourne Park.
Gauff leads Sabalenka 4-2 head-to-head, but lost her only clash with Krejcikova in straight sets in the 2021 Roland-Garros quarter-finals on the Czech’s path to the title.
The first set between Gauff and Kostyuk was a wild affair, with the American looking the better player early before the Ukrainian hung tough, then surged to a 5-1 lead, only to collapse with a one-set lead in sight.
The world No.37 dropped serve three straight times – either side of earning a set point on Gauff’s serve – but broke back to force a tiebreak, which was every bit as topsy-turvy as the match had been.
Gauff led 4-2 and 5-4 with a serve to come, but it was Kostyuk who had another set point first, which also went begging, before the former grabbed an opening set that featured a combined 50 unforced errors.
That proved critical in the end as Kostyuk, who hit 39 winners to Gauff’s 17, rallied from 3-5 down in the second set to send their quarter-final to a third set.
That was the first set Gauff dropped for the tournament, but it was almost one-way traffic once she recovered from 15-40 in the first game of the final set.
“I was just trying to get one more game in the first set and at least make it competitive, then one game turned to another,” Gauff said.
“I was able to win that set and then in the second, I [gave] myself an opportunity … I think I got a little bit passive.
“When I came out in the third, I was trying to play aggressive and hit through the court because I knew if I left something standing, she was going to take advantage.”
The defeat ends Kostyuk’s career-best run at a major, after she made her first grand slam splash as a 15-year-old qualifier at the 2018 Australian Open, where she made the round of 32.
The 21-year-old is projected to rise to a career-high WTA ranking inside the top 30.
Watch all the Australian Open action live on Nine, 9Gem, 9Now and ad-free on Stan Sport.
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
