WTA Round-Up: Kostyuk Dedicates Maiden Title To War Victims, Vekic Stuns Garcia In Mexico - UBITENNIS
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WTA Round-Up: Kostyuk Dedicates Maiden Title To War Victims, Vekic Stuns Garcia In Mexico

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Image via https://twitter.com/IMGTennis

Marta Kostyuk has dedicated her first WTA trophy to those who are ‘fighting and dying’ in her home country of Ukraine after winning the inaugural Austin Open. 

 

The 20-year-old battled her way to a 6-3, 7-5, win over Russia’s Varvara Gracheva who she did not shake hands with after their match. Kostyuk has previously stated that she will not shake hands with players from Russia due to the war in her country, as well as those from Belarus whose government are accused of supporting the conflict. Thousands of people have been killed in the Ukraine war which began on February 24th 2022. 

“Everyone who is in the stands and everyone who is watching, especially in Ukraine, I want to say ‘Slava Ukraini (glory to Ukraine),’” Kostyuk said during the trophy ceremony. 
“Being in the position that I’m in right now it’s extremely special to win this title. I want to dedicate this title to Ukraine and all of the people who are fighting and dying right now.”

Kostyuk’s victory over Gracheva was a tougher encounter than the scoreline suggested. Overall, there were 13 breaks of serve in the match with the Ukrainian winning eight of them. She won just 46% of her service points which was only slightly better than her opponent who won 44%. 

The triumph comes five years after Kostyuk achieved her first major breakthrough on the Tour by reaching the third round of the Australian Open at the age of 15. Since then, she has experienced a roller-coaster journey in the sport. Until her latest tournament, she was the highest-ranked WTA player yet to have featured in a Tour final. 

“Very surreal,” Kostyuk said of her win in Austin. “I was just playing match by match, and I think this is how you win tournaments, I guess! It’s not so easy to talk right now, but obviously I’m extremely happy.
“I’m just happy to be healthy and happy to play tennis and see the crowd enjoy my game.”

Kostyuk has risen up the rankings to a career-high of No.40 on Monday. She is one of four Ukrainian players currently ranked in the top 100. 

Vekic returns to winning ways  

In the Mexican city of Monterrey, Donna Vekic won her fourth WTA trophy by stunning world No.5 Caroline Garcia 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, at the Abierto GNP Seguros Open. In a tightly contested encounter, Vekic won 74% of her first service points and blasted 13 aces past the Frenchwoman. In the decider, the Croatian fended off eight break points before breaking Garcia in the last game of the match to secure victory. 

“It was a crazy match until the end, [Garcia] was playing so well, playing so deep,” said Vekic.”I was trying to win as many points as I could. It was not easy, but I’m really happy to win.”

The 26-year-old has reached the quarter-final stage or better at every tournament she has played so far in 2023. Earlier this year, she reached the last eight of the Australian Open in what was her best performance at a Grand Slam since 2019. Then in Linz, she also reached the quarter-final stage before losing to Maria Sakkari.

“It’s been a great start of the year for me. If the title didn’t come now, I believe that it would have come soon. So I’ve been playing good tennis, and I just need to keep working hard and hopefully stay healthy, and I’m sure I will keep having good results.” She said. 

Veki, who is currently ranked 23rd in the world, has endured a turbulent time on the Tour. She considered quitting the sport due to doubts over her fitness after undergoing knee surgery two years ago. Those concerns are now behind her. 

Garcia is the first top-10 player Vekic has defeated this season. 

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Hamad Medjedovic wins the Next Gen Finals title in Jeddah

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Hamad Medjedovic came back from one set down to beat Arthur Fils 3-4 (6-8) 4-1 4-2 3-4 (9-11) 4-1 after 2 hours and 11 minutes at the Next Gen ATP Finals at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah. 

 

Medjedovic hit 38 winners to 21 unforced errors. 

The first set went on serve en route to the tie-break. Medjedovic earned a mini-break to take a 3-2 lead and held two set points at 6-4, but he was not able to convert them. Fils won four consecutive points to win the tie-break 8-6. 

Medjedovic earned a break in the second game to win the second set 4-1. 

Medjedovic becomes the sixth Next Gen ATP Finals champion, joining top 10 players Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. The 20-year-old Serbian player is the lowest-ranked champion in tournament history. 

Medjedovic started the third set with an early break in the first game. The Serbian player held on his serve to seal the set 4-2. 

Medjedovic recovered from squandering two match points at 6-4 in a thrilling tie-break of the fourth set at 5-6 and 7-8. Fils saved both chances on second serves and won four of the next five points to win the tie-break 11-9 forcing the match to a deciding set. 

to win the first five-set final in tournament history. The Serbian player won 88% and converted his third match point to clinch the biggest title of his career so far. 

Medjedovic earned a break in the second game of the fifth set. Fils earned himself a penalty point for a smash of his raquet and went down 0-3. Medjedovic held on his next service games and converted his third match point. 

“Two of us from Serbia. Djokovic won the big Masters, the real one, and I won the Next Gen. Obviously it’s a huge thing and I am happy to follow in his footsteps in some way. I can’t believe I have won this title. It’s going to give me a lot of confidence for 2024. Arthur is an amazing player. He is top 40 for a reason”, said Medjedovic. 

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Elena Rybakina headlines a strong line-up in Adelaide

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Elena Rybakina, Zheng Qinwen, Carolina Garcia and Angelique Kerber will highlight the Adelaide International, a WTA 500 tournament.

 

Rybakina reached the final at the Adelaide International on her tournament debut in 2022, losing to now retired Ashleigh Barty. Rybakina went on to win her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon later last year. The Kazakh player finished runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open final in 2023. 

Zheng won her first WTA 500 title in Zhengzhou and reached the final in Zhuhai, ending the 2023 season at a career-high of world number 15. 

Angelique Kerber will make her come-back to the WTA Tour at the United Cup before playing her first WTA draw in Adelaide. Kerber gave birth to her daughter Liana last February. The German player won titles at the 2016 Australian Open and in Sydney 2018 and reached in Sydney 2014 and in Brisbane 2018. 

Kerber is one of the three former number 1 players, who are making her come-back on the WTA Tour after giving birth to their children. 

Caroline Wozniacki lost to eventual champion Coco Gauff in the Round of 16 at the US Open in her third tournament back. 

Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka is planning to make her return next January after giving back to her child Shai last July. 

“It’s definitely way more tournaments than I used to play. So I think some people will be happy with that. I realized that I don’t know how the beginning of the year is going to go for me. I don’t know the level of player and I think I have to ease into it. At the very least, I will set myself up for a very good end of the year”, said Osaka.

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Arthur Fils beats Luca Van Assche in all-French semifinal at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah

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World number 36 Arthur Fils beat his friend Luca Van Assche 2-4 4-1 4-3 (7-1) 4-3 (8-6) in an all-French clash after 1 hour and 37 minutes to reach the final at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah. 

 

Van Assche, who was born in Belgium but moved to Belgium when he was three years old, broke serve in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead and served out the first set to 15. Van Assche won 12 of the last 14 points. 

Fils hit a couple of big forehands to earn three break points at 2-1 15-40. Van Assche saved one break point with a volley, but Fils converted his second chance to open up a 3-1 lead, as Van Assche netted a backhand. Fils served out with a hold at 15 to level the match at one set apiece. 

The first five games of the third set went on serve. Van Assche led 2-3 30-40 on Fils’serve to earn two set points. 

Fils saved them before racing out to a 5-0 lead. Van Assche won his first point with a forehand. Fils earned five set points and closed it out when Van Assche netted a backhand. 

Fils won 22 consecutive points on his first serve until 2-1 in the fourth set. Van Assche faced a match point at 2-3, but Van Assche saved it to force another tie-break. Fils opened up a 4-1 with a mini-break. Van Assche won three points to 4-4 before saving two match points at 4-6 and 5-6. Fils hit a forehand to earn a fourth match point and converted it when Van Assche sent a backhand over the baseline. 

Van Assche beat Fils in the boys’ singles final at 2021 Roland Garros. Fils won his first title in Lyon last May. 

“I played every point trying everything with my forehand, moving very good. I was very happy with the tie-break. Today was a tough match against a great friend. We have known each other since we were nine, so it was a little bit tough and I am happy with the win. I came onto the court with the mindset that I can win. The first set was tough, he was playing very good and defending so well, running very fast. I kept my focus and I am really happy with the win”, said Fils. 

Fils set up a final clash against Hamad Medjedovic, who advanced to the championships match, when Dominic Stricker was forced to withdraw in the second set due to a back injury in the semifinal. 

Medjedovic was leading 4-3 (7-5) 2-1 when Stricker walked to the net and ended the match. 

Medjedovic hit 12 winners to 3 unforced errors. The Serbian player won three matches in the round-robin group. 

Medjedovic won 93% of his first serve points in the first set. Stricker did not drop a point on his first serve. Medjedovic earned his only mini-break to seal the tie-break 7-5. 

Medjedovic earned an early break in the third game of the second set to take a 2-1 lead before Stricker retired from the match. 

Medjedovic reached two semifinals in Gstaad and Astana. He is coached by Viktor Troicki. Stricker advanced to the semifinals at the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan. 

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