“Marta lost to Ashlyn Kruger in the 1st round of the WTA 500 in Australia”, — write: sport.ua
In the round of 16, the Ukrainian lost in two sets Ashlyn Kruger (USA, WTA 54) in 1 hour and 42 minutes.
WTA 500 Adelaide. Hard. Round of 16
Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine) – Ashlyn Kruger (USA) [LL] – 6:4, 2:6, 2:6
This was the first meeting of the rivals. In the 2nd round of the 500, Kruger will play against the 12th ranked player in the world, Paula Badosa from Spain.
Last year, Marta reached the quarterfinals at the tournament in Adelaide and lost to the future winner Alyona Ostapenko.
Kostyuk suffered its second defeat in the new season. She previously lost to Yuan Yue at the start of the competition in the same category in Brisbane. The Australian Open starts next week, where Marta has to defend last year’s quarterfinal.
In the new season, Kruger defeated a representative of the top 20 of the WTA ranking for the second time. In Brisbane, the 20-year-old American managed to beat 14-ranked Anna Kalinskaya.
In Adelaide, besides Marta, Ukraine was also represented by Lyudmila and Nadia Kichenok, but in doubles. Both sisters were eliminated in the 1st round of the competition.