New York (AFP) – Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova reached the quarter-finals of the US Open on Sunday, edging Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in three sets. The Czech Noskova, who has largely flown under the radar in New York despite winning Wimbledon, beat Kostyuk 7-5, 5-7, 6-4, finally sealing the win on her sixth match point when Kostyuk netted a backhand return.
“I am more than relieved,” Noskova said after booking a last-eight showdown with two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka. “This match was so tough, emotionally more so than physically.” After a hard-fought first set, Noskova, seeded sixth, appeared poised for a relatively straightforward win, holding two match points while serving for the second set up at 5-4. But Kostyuk, who has won two titles in 2026, slapped a forehand winner on the first and saved the second by drilling a ball at Noskova, who was at the net and couldn’t handle the volley.
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Riding momentum and loud crowd support in Louis Armstrong Stadium, Kostyuk went on to take the next two games to force a third set. In the third set, the Czech scored a key break at 3-3. But with Noskova serving at 5-4, Kostyuk saved three more match points but couldn’t return a strong serve from Noskova, who fell to her knees after finally finishing the two-hour and 27-minute match.
Noskova took a bathroom break after the second set, as she did in the Wimbledon final against fellow Czech Karolina Muchova when she also found herself in a third set after squandering match points. “I just had to leave the court. There was a lot of noise, but obviously I had to restart. I had to refocus, kind of put it behind me, which was not easy at all,” Noskova said. “It’s always the most important thing to kind of get yourself back mentally after such opportunities, either in Wimby or here.”
Kostyuk said after the match that she has been playing with a right wrist injury and planned to get an MRI now that the tournament is over. “I wasn’t 100 percent for sure,” said Kostyuk, who smiled in the later stages of the second as the crowd “started going crazy” as she saved match points. “I’ve never had the whole stadium cheer for me like this, and it was so loud, and yeah, I wanted to soak it in, and it kept going until the rest of the match,” she said. “So it was incredible. So nothing else but smile about it.”
Kostyuk, a vocal critic of the Russian invasion of Ukraine who has spoken of the toll on her family, said she enjoyed the atmosphere despite losing. “I just lost a match. Of course, it’s a Grand Slam. It was a very close match, but I’m very happy, and nothing about the result of the match is gonna change it,” Kostyuk said. “It’s just a tennis match. I mean, come on, all good.”
© 2024 AFP
