Fifteen-year-old sensation Marta Kostyuk’s fairytale continued Wednesday as she beat local wildcard Olivia Rogowska to reach the third round of the Australian Open.
The 6-3, 7-5 win took the Ukrainian teenager’s win streak at Melbourne Park to an incredible 11 straight matches after winning the Australian Open girls’ title in 2017 and coming through qualifying this year.
If those feats are not astonishing enough, Kostyuk has now become the youngest player to reach the third round since Martina Hingis got to the quarter-finals as a 15-year-old in 1996.
Wozniacki survives a nail-biting three-setter
World No 2 Caroline Wozniacki produced a great escape against little-known Croat Jana Fett, saving two match points and rallying from 5-1 down in an epic third set to keep her dream of a first Grand Slam title alive.
She looked out for the count, and was struggling afterwards to work out how she survived 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 against a player ranked 119.
“That was crazy, I don’t how I got back the in the match, She really took her shots, she had nothing to lose,” said Wozniacki, adding that “experience was crucial”.
Goerges 15-match streak shattered by Cornet
Julia Goerges’ 15-match unbeaten run came to a shuddering halt as she lost in straight sets to Alize Cornet in the second round.
The 42nd-ranked Frenchwoman won 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 31 minutes on Margaret Court Arena and will face either Australia’s Daria Gavrilova or Elise Mertens next.
“She had so many wins in a row and I’m just happy to break the spell,” said an ecstatic Cornet, who dominated the number 12 seed.
The in-form Goerges had won three hard-court events in a row – Moscow and Zhuhai in 2017 and Auckland to start this year – and was fancied to go deep into the latter stages in Melbourne Park.
The German instead joined the big-name graveyard in the bottom half of the draw that has already claimed eight seeds including Venus Williams (5), CoCo Vandeweghe (10), US Open champion Sloane Stephens (13) and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (15).
“I was not favourite today,” admitted Cornet. “I just played my heart out. I dream step by step,” she said when asked if she could go further after two straight sets wins. “For sure, many beautiful things are coming.”
Ostapenko downs Duan in a 162-point slugfest
French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko outhit Ying-Ying Duan in a three-set second-round clash.
With seven breaks of her opponent’s serve and 35 winners, Ostapenko, despite the second set letdown, won the match 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
After winning Roland Garros at 19, Ostapenko will be looking to add another Slam before she’s tagged as a ‘one-slam wonder’.
Svitolina comes from behind to beat Siniakova
Elina Svitolina had to come from behind Wednesday against Katerina Siniakova to set up an all-Ukrainian third-round clash with teenage sensation Marta Kostyuk.
The world number four was largely in control but somehow dropped the first set on the way to a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win against her 59th-ranked Czech opponent in two hours and 14 minutes.
“I think she played well in the first set but I gave her one break, so I think it was kind of my mistake,” said the fourth seed.
Bencic run ends early
Venus Williams’ Australian Open conqueror Belinda Bencic ran out of steam, failing to keep the momentum going against qualifier Luksika Kumkhum.
The Roger Federer-inspired Swiss stunned Williams in round one, but was no match for the Thai star who moved into a Grand Slam third round for the first time.
Bencic, 20, was never in contention on a searing day on Hisense Arena, slumping 6-1 in the first set before putting up more fight in the second only to succumb 6-3.
Women’s singles 2nd round results:-
Denisa Allertova (CZE) bt Zhang Shuai (CHN) 6-4, 7-6 (7/5)
Marta Kostyuk (UKR) bt Olivia Rogowska (AUS) 6-3, 7-5
Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS x15) 6-2, 6-3
Elina Svitolina (UKR x4) bt Katerina Siniakova (CZE) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
Luksika Kumkhum (THA) bt Belinda Bencic (SUI) 6-1, 6-3
Petra Martic (CRO) bt Irina Begu (ROM) 6-4, 7-6 (7/3)
Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK x19) bt Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) 6-4, 0-6, 6-2
Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x2) bt Jana Fett (CRO) 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
Magda Linette (POL) bt Darya Kasatkina (RUS x22) 7-6 (7/4), 6-2
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT x7) bt Duan Yingying (CHN) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
Kaia Kanepi (EST) bt Monica Puig (PUR) 6-4, 6-3
Kiki Bertens (NED x30) bt Nicole Gibbs (USA) 7-6 (7/3), 6-0
Anett Kontaveit (EST x32) bt Mona Barthel (GER) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
Alize Cornet (FRA) bt Julia Gorges (GER x12) 6-4, 6-3
Carla Suarez (ESP) bt Timea Babos (HUN) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
(with inputs from AFP)