Coco Gauff will try to erase the memory of her opening round loss at the Qatar Open from last year when she faces Marta Kostyuk in the round of 32 on Tuesday.
In the round of 64 on Sunday morning, Kostyuk came away with a straight sets victory over Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey (6-3 6-3), while Gauff lost the first Grand Slam of the year versus Spain's Paula Badosa in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open (5-7 4-6).
Match preview
© Imago
Despite a solid run to the last eight of the Australian Open, Coco Gauff failed to step up in that match, committing six double faults against the lower-ranked Badosa.
She has not won a singles tournament since the 2024 Finals in Riyadh, coming from behind to defeat Qinwen Zheng in three sets 3-6 6-4 7-6 on that occasion.
The third-ranked women's player at this event has not been eliminated in her first singles match since the Cincinnati Open last August, though she lost at this stage of the Qatar Open last year versus Katerina Siniakova (2-6 4-6).
At the same time, her only two victories on the WTA tour last year took place on hard court surfaces over Zheng in Riyadh, along with a convincing straight sets triumph against Karolina Muchova to capture the China Open in the fall (6-1 6-3).
Early into 2025, the American has made her share of errors with 58 double faults but made up for it by winning 74.8% of her first serves.
More often than not, she has been able to hold serve despite making a lot of unforced errors, winning 80% of her service games so far this year.
© Imago
Marta Kostyuk has made the round of 32 for a fourth successive singles tournament, capitalising on her Turkish opponents' numerous errors this weekend.
Sonmez registered six double faults during the match, while the Ukrainian won 50% of her break point opportunities (5/10) to make it to this stage of the Qatar Open for a second successive year.
At this stage of the tournament in 2024, Kostyuk was down 1-2 to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the opening set before being forced to retire.
The 22-year-old has been eliminated at this stage of her previous three singles events, with her last victory in a round of 32 match occurring at the Wuhan Open in October versus American Amanda Anisimova in a walkover.
So far this year, Kostyuk has often been her own worst enemy, with 48 double faults to go along with 22 aces and a first-serve percentage of 58.9%.
She has captured 67.2% of her service games on the singles draw to this stage of the 2025 campaign, while saving 65.5% of her break points.
Tournament so far
Marta Kostyuk:
First round: vs. Zeynep Sonmez 6-3 6-3
Head To Head
Adelaide International (2022) - Second round - Gauff wins 6-3 5-7 6-3
Australian Open (2024) - Quarter-finals - Gauff wins 7-6 6-7 6-2
Porsche Tennis Grand Priz (2024) - Quarter-finals - Kostyuk wins 3-6 6-4 7-6
Wuhan Open (2024) - Third round - Gauff wins 6-4 6-1
When these two met for the first time in Adelaide just over three years ago, Gauff took advantage of her break point opportunities, going four for five while winning 70% of her first serves.
Weeks later, at the Aussie Open, the American overcame nine double faults to claim a close victory in three sets, winning 59% of her first serves.
The next meeting between them in Stuttgart last year saw the Ukrainian win 50% of her return points and narrowly advance despite 10 double faults.
Last October, Gauff was nearly unstoppable, winning all five of her break point chances and 80% of her first serves to claim a comfortable triumph.
We say: Gauff to win in three sets
Kostyuk has always gone down swinging in these encounters, but Gauff's game is a little cleaner, and we believe unforced errors by the Ukrainian may make the difference.
Joel Lefevre
