{"id":362095,"date":"2024-01-23T08:15:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T09:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=362095"},"modified":"2024-01-23T14:03:00","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T14:03:00","slug":"lets-go-home-gauff-gives-rival-sobering-reality-check","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=362095","title":{"rendered":"'Let's go home': Gauff gives rival sobering reality check"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marta Kostyuk said she was ready to give up after losing the first set of her Australian Open<\/a> quarter-final against Coco Gauff<\/a> having held a massive 5-1 advantage.<\/p>\n

Kostyuk conceded the first set to her American opponent on Rod Laver Arena in a tie-breaker, downed 7-6 (8-6).<\/p>\n

Another tie-breaker decided the second set, this time going the way of the Ukrainian star 7-6 (7-3).<\/p>\n

LIVE:<\/strong> Australian Open 2024 day ten<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Tigers and exiled winger split after $300k payout<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Aussie skipper Pat Cummins opens up on Maxwell probe<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Gauff ultimately clinched the match with a 6-3 win in the third and deciding set to book a semi-final spot.<\/p>\n

\"Marta<\/p>\n

Despite that, Kostyuk said the defeat felt like a win.<\/p>\n

"I lost (the) first set, which was a bit painful," she explained.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 Australian Open live and exclusive on Nine,<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a> and ad-free on<\/strong><\/em> Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

"Was 5-1 up. Set point on 5-2. Then very, very good idea on 6-5, but just didn't execute it well enough.<\/p>\n

"It was like\u2026 your first time in the quarters, you lose the first set, and you're like, 'Oh, it's okay, it was a good fight. Let's go home now'. It was really like this.<\/p>\n

\"Coco<\/p>\n

"It was painful, and I was just thinking how I'm not going to be able to fall asleep thinking about this inside-out forehand for a couple of days, probably.<\/p>\n

"I came back, and being 5-2 down she served for the match. I think it was just now I will not remember this inside-out tonight, because at the end of the day, it's not what decides the match. Everyone misses easy balls. Everyone wins very tough points, as well.<\/p>\n

"For me, it's a win because I was playing one of the best girls in the world \u2013 managed to be still very close. It feels far but also very close. This whole tournament I think is a big win for me. Just looking forward."<\/p>\n

\"Gauff<\/p>\n

It's not all a lost cause for Kostyuk, whose run to the quarter-finals had more meaning than most \u2013 raising awareness for the ongoing war at home.<\/p>\n

The up-and-coming 21-year-old said messages from family and friends on the other side of the world are a sobering reminder of the grim reality people in Ukraine face day to day.<\/p>\n

It's been nearly two years since Russia's invasion of Ukraine supported by Belarus began.<\/p>\n

Russian and Belarusian players were stripped of their right to bear their flag as a result of the war.<\/p>\n

Tennis players from Ukraine have waged their own war of words, constantly questioning participation of Russian and Belarusian players in major events.<\/p>\n

This year's Australian Open marked the first time two players from Ukraine had made the final eight in any grand slam.<\/p>\n

After Kostyuk's defeat to Coco Gauff in their quarter-final, Dayana Yastremska represents Ukraine's last hope. She'll face Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Speaking post-match, Kostyuk said she was proud of her compatriots.<\/p>\n

\"Beaten<\/p>\n

"I think people should be reminded," she said of the war.<\/p>\n

"Before the match, I was looking at the news and I kind of guess that most likely there would be a big missile shelling again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"When I walked off the court, I look at this news again, and again, I don't know how many missiles yet. It's still too fresh.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"I was texting with some people from Kyiv. I said, 'How is it? How are you guys?' They said, 'Well, we were looking between your score and where the missiles are flying'.<\/p>\n

"So it's still there. It's still there. My parents are still there. My sister is still there. Yeah, it's still there. Still not gone."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marta Kostyuk said she was ready to give up after losing the first set of her Australian Open quarter-final against Coco Gauff having held a […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":362097,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362095"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=362095"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":362102,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362095\/revisions\/362102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/362097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=362095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=362095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=362095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}