16 year old Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk overcame some early nerves as she defeated Jana Cepelova 6-3 7-5 to reach the second qualifying round at the Australian Open.
The youngster qualified last year at the age of 15 and reached the third round before losing to Elina Svitolina and is aiming to do the same in 2019.
An impressive 21 winners helped Kostyuk overcome some early nerves to defeat Jana Cepelova in straight sets and progress into the second qualifying round.
After the win Kostyuk explained that she was nervous as she had the memories of last year still in her mind, “I feel it wasn’t my best match, I’m happy I got through this because I’ve never felt so nervous before a match,” the teenager told AusOpen.com.
“Never in my life, I’ll tell you this secret, that when I was walking onto the court I thought I was going to cry because I was so nervous. I’ve also been going through a lot in the past year.”
True insight from the world number 116 who overcame these negative emotions to overcome her veteran Slovakian opponent, who picked up an injury during the match.
Next for Kostyuk is Amandine Hesse, who managed to overcome Lesley Kerkhove 1-6 7-6(6) 7-6(8) in a battle. This match was one of many matches on day one which tested the new 10 point final set tiebreak.
There were also wins for other teenage players such as Wimbledon juniors champion Iga Swiatek and Olympic youth champion Kaja Juvan.
The latter continued her 2018 momentum with a tough two hour battle over 17th Yanina Wickmayer, while Swiatek survived a tough test from Moscow River Cup champion Olga Danilovic.
In the battle between the two bright stars of the women’s game it was the Pole who defeated the Serbian 1-6 7-6(4) 7-5.
Kokkinakis Advances
Despite not receiving a wildcard for the men’s draw Thanasi Kokkinakis overcame Egypt’s Mohamed Safwat in straight sets to reach the second qualifying round.
The Australian, who defeated Roger Federer in Miami last March, needed a second set tiebreak to advance in Melbourne.
“I feel like I should have done it easier, but he’s a tough player, he’s sneaky good. At the start I was playing such a high level; it wasn’t anything flashy, but I made him play a lot of balls,” Kokkinakis said about the match.
The 32nd seed will now play Austrian Sebastian Ofner after he defeated Yasutaka Uchiyama in straight sets to set up a meeting with Kokkinakis.
There were also wins for rising talents Felix Auger-Aliassime, Christopher Eubanks and Miomir Kecmanovic. Auger-Aliassime and Eubanks will play each other on Thursday for a place in the final qualifying round of the Australian Open.
