Gauff wins battle of teens over Kostyuk, Konjuh next

12 January 2022, by Matt Trollope

Less than 24 hours after her first-round win, Coco Gauff returned to Memorial Drive Tennis Centre and booked her place in the Adelaide International 2 quarterfinals.

Gauff, 17, beat 19-year-old Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk 6-3 5-7 6-3 to book a meeting in the last eight with Ana Konjuh.

Konjuh, a former world No.20 continuing her impressive comeback after multiple elbow surgeries, saved a match point to upset sixth seed and Olympic silver medallist Marketa Vondrousova.

In the evening session, Australian wildcard Maddison Inglis found fourth seed Tamara Zidansek too strong, going down 6-1 6-2.

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Zidansek, a Roland Garros semifinalist in 2021, struck 24 winners to six in a masterful display of point construction, court coverage and forehand prowess.

She will next face Lauren Davis, one of five Americans to advance to the quarterfinals in Adelaide along with Gauff, Madison Brengle, Alison Riske and Madison Keys.

Keys, a former world No.7, backed up her first-round upset of second seed Elina Svitolina with a 63-minute, 6-1 6-3 dismissal of Tereza Martincova.

Keys next takes on No.8 seed Liudmila Samsonova, an similarly-dominant 6-2 6-1 victor against Spain’s Nuria Parrizas Diaz.

Keys and Samsonova will clash in what promises to be a big-hitting quarterfinal, with the winner to face either Gauff or Konjuh in the semis.

Gauff on Tuesday night overwhelmed Katerina Siniakova, and by Wednesday afternoon she was back, facing talented world No.50 Kostyuk.

The No.3 seed did well to make the second set tight after trailing 5-2 – she saved three set points on her way to levelling scores at 5-5 – but despite Kostyuk sending the match to a third, Gauff reclaimed her ascendancy, reeling off the last four games in a row to advance.

Next up for her is Konjuh, who trailed Vondrousova by 5-3 in the third and saved a match point in the ninth game when serving to stay in the match.

“It’s always special; I was kind of missing these hard matches, hard-fought battles. So it’s really good to have them under my belt and to get a win,” said Konjuh, who won 4-6 6-2 7-6(3).

“Luck was a little bit on my side maybe today, and some experience, but I’m really happy to get through.”