AAP Tennis

Kostyuk, Potapova reach first Indian Wells quarters

By AAP Newswire

Mar 13, 2024

Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk has crushed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 6-1 and will meet another Russian, Anastasia Potapova, in the Indian Wells last eight after she earlier beat Jasmine Paolini 7-5 0-6 6-3.

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Kostyuk only dropped four points on serve in Tuesday's (Wednesday AEDT) match and broke Pavlyuchenkova five times to reach her first quarter-final at a WTA 1000 event.

Kostyuk edged Pavlyuchenkova in a tight three setter at the San Diego Open earlier this month but had an easier time in their fourth round battle under sunny skies in the California desert.

"It definitely helped that I played her (recently)," Kostyuk told the Tennis Channel.

"The conditions were much better for my game here, the ball bounces much higher and it's a bit warmer. I didn't feel like I was in so much trouble like I did in San Diego."

The 21-year-old Kostyuk is seeded 31st at the tournament. She reached the quarters of the Australian Open in January for her best result at a grand slam.

Potapova booked her first trip to the quarter-finals of a WTA 1000 event with her win over Dubai champion Paolini.

Potapova disappeared in the one-sided second set but recovered to snap Paulini's eight-match winning streak, sealing the victory when the 13th-seeded Italian's backhand went wide on match point.