“The match will take place on January 15, the approximate start time of the game is 07:30 Kyiv time”, — write: sport.ua
In the 2nd round, the Ukrainian will play against Yule Niemeyer (Germany, WTA 93). The approximate start time of the match is 07:30 Kyiv time.
Sport.ua will conduct a video broadcast of the match.
Marta Kostyuk
Our first racket didn’t really impress in the opening game. In the first set with Nao Hibino, Kostyuk won 3:6 and even managed to throw the racket a little on the court.
But there were cool games, such as, for example, the third on the serve, when Kostiuk left with 0:40. Everything is right on the court, powerful, reliable, Hibino had no chance to get the ball. And then again – net / out, net / out. Based on the first set, I concluded that Marta has not changed at all in terms of psychology and emotions.
But was it worth it? All of us don’t like how our tennis players wantonly give away points. And we all really like it when our tennis players start making a comeback. And when have you seen Martha play without all this? Even to remember her last Australian Open, where she reached the quarterfinals: saved match point with Mertens, comeback after 2:6, 0:1 with Avanesyan, and even with Goff it was close to a crazy comeback, and in the second game even from 3:5 went Martha is like that. This is her style. She played, plays and will play like this. A change of coach, lack of Instagram, spending less time with my husband – none of this will help.
It’s just a pity that when Kostyuk doesn’t fly, she gets upset and continues to give points. She needs time to reload and start hitting. This happened with Hibino. It’s good that Nao is far from a top contender. In the second and third games, Kostyuk won a phenomenal 86% of points on the first serve and 55%+ on the second serve. And all because it simply went from the very first draw of the second party.
Jule Niemeier is a must-see. We can forgive her the loss to potential Pegula in the 1/8 finals, but the fiasco in the game with Niemeyer – not. If the bar is caught, it must be held. If you are used to showing emotions, please only direct them in the right direction and draw conclusions. And finally, as before the last game, I will support – we believe in our first racket!
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Marta Kostyuk Yule Niemeyer
Yule somewhat resembles Jaber, so to speak, a weaker version of Ons. 178 cm + overweight is not the most ideal physique for a tennis player, but the 25-year-old German sometimes shows very good results.
For example, Niemeyer has 4 wins and 6 losses against tennis players from the top 10. Kostyuk has a record of 8–20. Jule took a set from Iga Swiontek at the 2022 USO, held a +4.5 handicap against her at the 2023 Aus Open, shut out the aforementioned Jaber on grass in Berlin, and beat Anette Kontaveit when she was still the world number three. Niemeyer is not the easiest opponent, although she did not rise above the 61st position, and now she is 93rd.
Yule finished 2024 with 34 wins and 27 losses, as well as two 100-thousander finals. In the new season before the start of AO-2025, Niemeyer played in both Auckland and Adelaide. In New Zealand, the German lost in the first round… Nao Hibino! And everything was bad there – 55% of points on the first serve, 40% on the second, 3 break points out of 8 and 52% of points from Hibino’s second serve, which is far from the strongest side.
At the 500 in Australia, Niemeier beat the out-of-form Soran Kirstya with 41% first-ball accuracy. This is a sad indicator. And in the 2nd round of Adelaide, she was beaten in three games by Maria Bouzkova, and Yule’s statistics were not better, in addition to 7 double mistakes.
It would seem that Niemeyer played the perfect match in a long time at the start of the Aus Open against Maia Khvalinska. But she gave out 45% of the wins from the second serve! And it’s 6:0, 6:1. I hope it is clear that Yule is not at her peak right now, and she can easily bury herself with her serve.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Yule Niemeyer Prediction for the match Marta Kostyuk – Yule Niemeyer
Marta is a well-deserved favorite, even if she gets involved in the season. Handicap -3 on Marta at 1.60 looks good.
Marta Kostyuk 15.01.2025 –
07:30
Yule Niemeyer