We’re into the second week at the Australian Open which means it’s time for the quarter finals! Damien Kayat previews two of these ties – Aryna Sabalenka v Barbora Krejcikova and Coco Gauff v Marta Kostyuk.
2024 WTA Tour
Grand Slam Tennis
Australian Open
Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia
Selected Quarterfinals- 23rd January
Aryna Sabalenka 2/15 | Barbora Krejcikova 46/10
Aryna Sabalenka is fresh off a dream 2023 campaign that saw her win 55 out of 69 matches. And she started this year in pretty similar style, making it all the way to the Brisbane final. She was utterly thrashed by Rybakina in that match but she won’t have to worry about the Kazakh- or Swiatek- for the remainder of the tournament.
The defending Aussie Open champion has almost looked impatient to reclaim her title, dropping just 11 games in four matches thus far. She almost looks like she is playing a different game at times, with her awesome serve and thunderous groundstrokes relegating her opponent’s dreams to ashes (she actually handed Lesia Tsurenko a dreaded double-bagel in the third round).
This is the period in a tournament where the Belarusian used to give in to serious serving yips. But she looks far more self-assured of late and she will go into this quarterfinal as the overwhelming favourite.
Barbora Krejcikova looks like she has a point to prove this year. I wonder if that has anything to with the fact that longtime doubles partner Katerina Siniakova- with whom she won seven Grand Slam titles- chose to end their playing relationship.
But now I’m entering into daytime TV drama speculation. I have always felt that the 2021 French Open champion spreads herself a bit thin by playing at such a high level in both singles and doubles. But she still enjoyed a really solid 2023 campaign, winning 34 of 53 matches.
That included hardcourt title runs at the San Diego Open and Dubai Tennis Championships. The counterpunching Czech is yet to progress beyond the quarterfinal of a hardcourt Slam (though she did reach the quarterfinals here in 2022). Her route to this stage has been far more physically taxing than that of Sabalenka, requiring three draining three-sets wins.
Also, the Czech is yet to face a seeded player in the draw. But she just overcame teenage sensation Mirra Andreeva and she will go into this match without any real pressure.
Verdict: Sabalenka to win in straight sets at 43/10-
Sabalenka comfortably leads the Czech 5-1 in their head-to-head rivalry. In fact, Sabalenka won their last three encounters. She’ll obviously look to take the initiative while the canny Czech attempts to mix things up, coming to the net and using a variety of slices and off-speed shots.
I just don’t think this surface will give Krejcikova much of an opportunity to impress her game upon Sabalenka. She would do better on slower hard courts like Indian Wells (or even the US Open). I think Sabalenka- if she can avoid any serving jitters- should easily dispatch the Czech.
Coco Gauff 1/10 | Marta Kostyuk 56/10
Coco Gauff is sitting pretty while many of the leading female contenders fall around her. The 19-year-old has charted a serene path this year, taking advantage of a pretty delicious draw to reach the quarterfinals here for the first time in her career.
These are exciting times for the reigning US Open champion. She shook things up last year, completely uprooting her coaching situation en route to amazing success. She is now on an incredible 11-match Grand Slam winning streak.
She also won the season-opening ASB Classic, meaning she is also working a 2024 winning streak of nine matches. She has been playing much more aggressively of late and she has definitely worked out some of the kinks on that forehand side.
She served brilliantly against Frech last time out, winning 76% of her first-serve points in a dominant display. She could very well represent Sabalenka’s biggest obstacle in reclaiming her title this year.
21-year-old Marta Kostyuk has certainly been one of the breakout stars at this year’s Aussie Open. The Ukrainian was earmarked for great things following an exceptional junior career- highlighted by victory in the 2017 junior final here.
But the outside world certainly intervened in her development, as she became the de-facto spokesperson for Ukrainian tennis after Russia’s invasion of her country. I think she lost focus on tennis and she has taken a bit of time to regain her stride.
She got back into the swing of things last year, winning her maiden WTA title at the ATX Open. The Ukrainian- known for her cunning all-court game and sweet backhand- has taken advantage of a very favourable draw this year. She needed three sets in her opening three matches.
But she just blasted Timofeeva off the court in no time to make it to her maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal (no doubt emboldened by the Russian-Ukraine rivalry). She will need to work on keeping those unforced errors in check as she looks to improve on a dreadful 3-15 record against top-10 players.
Verdict: Gauff to win in straight sets at 34/100
Gauff leads the head-to-head 1-0, winning their only previous encounter in three sets at the 2022 Adelaide International. I wish I could be more creative here; I do. But I just can’t see the relentless Gauff passing up on this opportunity.
Her serve has been lethal this fortnight- a testament to the work she has been doing with Andy Roddick behind the scenes. I think she is going to ease her way into a third-career Grand Slam semi-final.
