Marta Kostyuk 29/20 | Elina Svitolina 52/100
This promises to be an engrossing all-Ukrainian clash. The energetic Kostyuk has endeared herself to the entire tennis community this season, picking up a slew of great results whilst playing with a smile on her face.
She reached her maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Aussie Open and the results just kept on flowing from there. She beat top seed Jessica Pegula en route to a runner-up finish in San Diego.
She then followed a scintillating semifinal run at Indian Wells with another runner-up finish in Stuttgart. Her results plateaued slightly after that but she looked back to her busy best at the Olympic games, losing in a nail-biting quarterfinal clash with Donna Vekic.
Despite the magnitude of that Olympic quarterfinal match, Kostyuk found time in the match to wow the crowd with some on-court dance moves. The effervescent Ukrainian is a breath of fresh air and was absolutely untroubled in her first-round win against Tatjana Maria, needing just 52 minutes to rout the German 6-0, 6-2.
Elina Svitolina is certainly representative of the more serious aspect of the Ukrainian character. She has been an outspoken critic of Russia’s war in Ukraine and that has been more important to her than tennis over the past few years.
Having said that, she returned to action last year after her pregnancy hiatus and picked up some brilliant results, reaching the quarterfinals of the French Open and the semifinals at SW19.
She has looked more erratic this campaign (though her Grand Slam results have remained consistent). She finished runner-up in Brisbane to start the year but she hasn’t reached a semifinal since (though she once again impressed at Wimbledon with a quarterfinal finish).
But she was left heartbroken in Paris after a gut-wrenching three-set exit to Krejcikova. She probably put more pressure on herself than most to perform for her country and I think that result stung.
She bounced back nicely in her opener this week, brushing aside Shelby Rogers 6-0, 6-2 (curiously the same score as Kostyuk-Maria). She won an impressive 70% of her first-serve points in the match and a colossal 60% of all return points.
Svitolina also happens to be a former champion here, winning when it was still known at the Aviva Centre back in 2017.
The Verdict: Kostyuk to win in straight sets 3/1
Svitolina leads the head-to-head 1-0, taking down Kostyuk in straight sets at the 2018 Aussie Open. I just think that Kostyuk’s 2024 form is too good to ignore (especially at these prices).
Kostyuk has the athleticism to keep up with Svitolina and her inventive shot-making just makes her irresistible at these odds.