The score showed 6-3 2-6 6-4 in Marta Kostyuk’s favour in her second-round clash with Taylor Townsend at Adelaide International 2024.
In many ways, however, the numbers alone told little of the match.
It was a see-sawing performance for the 21-year-old Ukrainian, who is vastly talented but at times overwhelmed by emotion.
Townsend, by contrast, is a sturdy competitor who may well have turned the tables on Kostyuk, if not for an overload of matches over the past five days.
There had been two singles qualifiers plus an unexpected Centre Court main draw entrance on Tuesday night as a lucky loser. The likeable American capitalised superbly on her opportunity, claiming a straight-sets win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Then there’s Townsend’s doubles where she is a dual defending champion in Adelaide, having won both Adelaide tournaments a year ago when the tournament was held in consecutive weeks.
She took it all in her stride with Wednesday afternoon offering a contrasting yet equally challenging scenario to her prime-time Tuesday heroics. Show Court 2 is clearly smaller than the main arena but is set amid beautiful grounds and every seat alongside the court was snapped up.
Next door on Court 3, a raucous encounter between Jack Draper and Miomir Kecmanovic –which finished on a third set tie break in Draper’s favour – merely added to the atmosphere.
Kostyuk is an agile, athletic player with all the shots and the top 20 (she is currently ranked No. 41) is far from an outlandish dream.
She claimed her first WTA titles in both singles (at Austin) and doubles (with Barbora Krejcikova in Birmingham) last season. But while those milestones underlined her ability, her concentration wavered in the two hours and 13 minutes of her match against Townend.
Courtside, her new coach Sandra Zaniewska (who came onboard after Wimbledon) and new husband Heorhii proffered encouragement and very soon Kostyuk was 3-0 up.
She began to unravel towards the end of the first set.
“Keep breathing when you are in the point, for this intensity you need to breathe,” Zaniewska was saying to her. “Work, work, again, come on.”
It was said in the best spirit and tone, but with the second set lost – Townsend admirably keeping her calm throughout – Kostyuk’s emotions were evident in a fluctating second set.
She has, though, the capacity to put the challenges behind her in a flash. Stay with the point her coach urged on and on: “No perfection, just work.”
It proved a wise approach, as Kostyuk eventually emerged victorious to set a quarterfinal meeting with Jelena Ostapenko.