For the first time in her career, a Ukrainian tennis player won a thriller match and advanced to face a Russian at the Australian Open 2024

Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk continued her successful performance at the first Grand Slam of the season, the Australian Open 2024. The 21-year-old from Kyiv defeated the 25th seed Elise Mertens from Belgium in a dramatic match, reaching the third round of the competition.

Our compatriot emerged victorious in three sets - 5:7, 6:1, 10:6. The match lasted almost three hours, during which Marta served three aces, won 50 active points, and converted four out of eight break points. On the downside, our compatriot committed 11 double faults and 38 unforced errors. Nevertheless, in the 12th game, Kostyuk played a match point and defeated Mertens for the first time in her career.

Now, the Ukrainian will compete for a place in the 1/8 finals against Elina Avanesyan, a representative of Russia and a so-called neutral athlete, ranked 74th in the world rankings. This will be the first meeting between the players in adult tennis.

Earlier, another Kyiv player, Lesia Tsurenko, also advanced to the third round by defeating Rebecca Masarova of Spain 6:4, 6:3. She is now set to face the world number two, Arina Sabalenko. Two more of our compatriots, Elina Svitolina and Diana Yastremska, will play their second-round matches on January 18.

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