Kostyuk saves match points to beat Andreescu in Washington D.C.

No.34 Marta Kostyuk came from a set down and saved three match points to defeat No.44 Bianca Andreescu 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) in the first round of the Mubadala Citi D.C. Open. 

Kostyuk will face No.2 seed Caroline Garcia in the second round. 

Playing at a career-high ranking this week, Kostyuk coolly reeled in the 2019 US Open champion to level their head-to-head at 1-1. With aggressive play from the baseline and a flurry of reflex winners, the 21-year-old Ukrainian avenged her loss to Andreescu earlier in the season in the quarterfinals of Hua Hin.

Kostyuk’s resilience: After Andreescu broke twice in the opening set, Kostyuk began her comeback by building a 3-0 lead in the second set. When Andreescu ran off three consecutive games and threatened to make it a fourth, Kostyuk saved two break points to quell the Canadian’s momentum and went on to take the set.

Kostyuk broke first in the deciding set to lead 2-1, but Andreescu refused to let her race away. Kostyuk broke again and led 4-2 before Andreescu elevated once again to get back on serve and lead 5-4. 

“I lost my chances at 4-all, there were some painful mistakes,” Kostyuk said. “Honestly, I didn’t believe I could win this one but I was just trying to play every point and stay in the match and fight not give up.”

Turning point: Serving to stay in the match, Kostyuk saved a match point to hold to 5-5 and then saved two more on her own serve to force a deciding tiebreak.

This time, Kostyuk did not relinquish her momentum. After hitting a double fault to allow Andreescu to level at 5-5, Kostyuk dug out a difficult volley to earn her first match point and converted when Andreescu put a ball wide to end the 2-hour and 43-minute clash. 

Stat of the match: Andreescu will rue her missed opportunities. She out-paced Kostyuk statistically, hitting 31 winners to Kostyuk’s 25 and 38 unforced errors to 37. She also maintained more consistent pressure on Kostyuk’s serve, generating 14 break points and converting just five of her chances. Three of her break points were match points. 

Other results: Earlier in the day, 2022 Washington D.C. champion Liudmila Samsonova eased past Danielle Collins 6-1, 6-3. 

More to follow…