Kostyuk eliminates Gauff to reach the last 16 in Doha

First match of the day on center court at the WTA 1000 tournament in Doha. Number 3 seed Coco Gauff makes her Qatar debut against Marta Kostyuk.

The Ukrainian, ranked 21st in the world, dominated Zeynep Sonmez on Sunday (6-3, 6-3) in her first round match.

In a disastrous start to the match, Gauff, who accumulated a number of unforced errors (19 in the first set), gave away too many points, while Kostyuk, on the other hand, was aggressive and managed to take her opponent's serve quite easily.

The battle began in the second set, with Gauff breaking in the first, but never really raising her game to turn things around.

After missing two break points at 3-2, the Australian Open 2024 quarter-finalist made up ground on her next return game.

She finally managed to clinch a fourth and final break on a final backhand error by Gauff and her second match point.

Kostyuk, who hasn't had the best start to the season, recovered to win her first match against a top-10 player in 2025.

This is her second victory over Coco Gauff in five meetings, after dominating her in Stuttgart last year. She will meet the winner of the 100% Polish duel between Magdalena Frech and Magda Linette for a place in the quarters.

"Coco is an outstanding player. All our previous matches have been big battles. If you haven't seen them, go to YouTube and watch the summaries!

I just tried to stick to my game plan and do what I had to do. I'm glad it all worked out and that I was able to win in two sets.

I'm just happy to be in the last 16," said the 22-year-old on the court after her victory.