Svitolina is on the brink of making history, while Kostyuk faces a nail-biting match. Here's a recap of the day's action at the Australian Open.
The first Ukrainian to play was Elina Svitolina. The 30-year-old from Odessa faced the experienced Romanian Sorana Cirstea. The Ukrainian executed her match with confidence and strategy, breaking her opponent once more in both sets and winning with a score of 6:4, 6:4. This was the fourth match between the two, with the Ukrainian winning all encounters.
In the second round, Svitolina will face American Caroline Dolehide (82), who also won in two sets against Czech player Sara Bejlek (7:6(5), 6:2).
Next up was the turn of Ukraine’s top player Marta Kostyuk, whose match against the 30-year-old Japanese Nao Hibino was scheduled for the previous day, but rain altered the schedule.
The 23-year-old from Kyiv couldn't resist her usual rollercoaster style, keeping both herself and the fans on edge. Kostyuk lost her serve to the world’s 132nd player right in the first game of the opening set. Subsequently, the Ukrainian allowed her opponent to break her serve twice more, while she managed only one break in return. With five double faults in the set, the score ended 6:3 in favor of the Japanese.
It can’t be said that Kostyuk played significantly better in the second set, but she was more stable. The Ukrainian confidently fought back the only break from Hibino and won two games on the Japanese's serve, converting both of her break points. 6:3 – the second set goes to the representative of Ukraine.
0The third set saw little competition. The Japanese player felt pain in her ankle and had to take a medical timeout at 4:1. After the break, Nao Hibino conceded the set without a fight – 6:1.
Kostyuk's opponent in the second round will be German Jule Niemeier (92), who defeated Polish tennis player Maja Chwalinska (126) in the first round of AO-2025.
The final match for the Ukrainian representatives was between 22-year-old Daria Snigur and the 11th ranked player in the world, Danielle Collins from the USA. The Kyiv native faced her opponent from the top twenty of the WTA rankings for the fifth time and started the match quite confidently, trading serves with the experienced American.
At 3:3, the Ukrainian managed to break her opponent's serve, but Snigur couldn't consolidate her advantage. Collins seized the initiative and even had two set points, but the game went to a tiebreak, where the Floridian proved to be stronger.
The second set for Daria Snigur started extremely poorly – three consecutive lost games, two of which were on her own serve. The Ukrainian attempted to narrow the deficit by breaking Collins's serve, but it wasn't enough. The 11th ranked player in the world brought the score to 5:1, where she managed to secure her spot in the second round of the Australian Open-2025 with four match points. The final score was 7:6(4), 6:3.
22-year-old Daria Snigur played for the fourth time in Grand Slam tournaments, including for the second time at the Australian Open. Currently, her best achievement is reaching the second round at the US Open in 2022 and Wimbledon in 2024.
On the night of January 13-14, two more Ukrainians will begin their journey at the Australian Open. Dayana Yastremska will face Mayar Sherif from Egypt, while Angelina Kalinina will compete against Ons Jabeur from Tunisia.