Elina Svitolina made light work of her fellow countrywomen and 15-year-old Marta Kostyuk as she breezed through to the fourth-round with a 6-2, 6-2 win. Svitolina has now secured her best result ever at the Australian Open, reaching the last 16 for the first time.
All eyes were on this intriguing third-round matchup between the two Ukrainians Svitolina and Kostyuk. This match featured the present, Svitolina, and the future of Ukrainian tennis, Kostyuk as the pair went head to head for the first time. The 15-year-old Kostyuk was looking to become the youngest player to reach the fourth-round of a Grand Slam since Anna Kournikova at the 1996 US Open.
Both players seemed to be nervous in the early stages of this match. This was understandable given the hype surrounding this encounter. All the pressure was on Svitolina against the younger opponent and this showed as the Ukrainian lost the opening 6 points. However, the 23-year-old steadied the ship and was able to regain momentum to move ahead in the match. Kostyuk began to overplay and started forcing the issue, hitting more and more unforced errors. Svitolina took advantage capturing the first set 6-2.
After an extended bathroom break from the teenager, the pair come back out playing some exceptional tennis. However, the more experienced Svitolina held steady and was able to secure an early break that proved to be too much for Kostyuk to overcome. The former Australian Open Girls Singles Champion Kostyuk was too inconsistent to really challenge Svitolina, dropping the second set 6-2.
Svitolina will now face Denisa Allertova in the fourth-round. The Ukrainian is favourite to advance through to the semi-finals being the only seed left in her quarter of the draw. Kostyuk will leave the Australian Open with a $150,000 prize check and a lot of new fans. This is just the beginning for the teenager Kostyuk as she starts her new exciting career.
