Women's singles third round
Jessica Pegula stormed through to the fourth round of Australian Open 2023 with a commanding 6-0 6-2 performance over Marta Kostyuk on Margaret Court Arena.
MORE: All the scores from AO 2023
The third-seeded American needed just 65 minutes to seal victory, staring down eight of nine break points she faced with steely resolve.
"Happy to be through to the fourth round and just excited for the next match," she said, grinning after her win.
The build-up
From the moment the women's singles main draw dropped, Pegula had her eye on 20-year-old Kostyuk as a potential third round opponent.
"I saw that Marta was in my section…I thought she would beat Amanda [Anisimova] because Amanda hasn't been playing," said Pegula, correctly predicting her 28th seeded countrywoman's upset.
"I was like, that will be interesting if she gets through. I think she's really dangerous, I think she should be ranked a lot higher than she is, I think she's super talented."
Pegula witnessed that talent first hand at last August's Western & Southern Open, ultimately prevailing 6-7(5) 6-1 6-2.
With a 0-10 record against top 10 players, Kyiv-born Kostyuk has been hungry for a breakthrough win against the sport's best – and began the battle in pursuit of an upset.
Story of the match
In a shaky opening game, three double faults off the Kostyuk racquet helped Pegula nab an early break.
The American third seed kept her rival off balance, breaking again for a 3-0 lead before the Ukrainian began to assert herself, creating five ultimately unconverted break point chances.
Pegula quickly broke again for a 5-0 lead, and held on to serve up her second bagel set of the tournament.
Despite working her way on to the scoreboard in the second set, Kostyuk found it hard to tame the clean-hitting Pegula.
She looked to her coaching team for answers they could not provide as their charge dropped serve in the third game, covering her head with her towel at the change of ends in an effort to regroup.
A chipped backhand into the net from Kostyuk dug the 20-year-old into a 1-4 deficit, though she quickly nabbed one break back to the delight of vocal Ukrainian fans.
But their optimism was short-lived. Kostyuk squandered chances to hold and a misfired backhand gifted Pegula a break and the chance to serve for the match at 5-2.
A lapse in the American's laser focus gave her foe two break chances, which she saw off to set up match point.
Cool, calm and collected, Pegula closed out proceedings as Kostyuk's forehand found the net.
"I didn't give away a lot of free points, I was playing aggressive when I had to but also playing smart," said Pegula, who is aiming to extend her Melbourne Park run beyond the final eight, where she fell in 2021 and 2022
"I definitely learned a lot from when I last played her to [develop] a better strategy going into the match that I think worked really well right from the start."
Pegula said she was pleased her ability to dictate point construction as planned, and the third seed wasn't fazed by occasional brilliance from her foe.
"I knew she'd hit some really flashy, amazing shots. She's a really great player, I think she's super talented and she's a great athlete so I was trying not to get frustrated, if I knew she was going to hit an amazing shot I just kinda had to let it go and move onto the next point."
Key stats
Competing with tape on her left quad, a panicked Kostyuk struck 39 unforced errors to Pegula's tidy total of nine, eliminating a marginal advantage of her 18 winners to Pegula's 12.
Pegula's landed just 52 per cent of first serves, but Kostyuk wasn't able to cause enough trouble on the return.
"I wasn’t serving great today but I thought I served smart enough to get myself through some tough games," observed Pegula.
What this means for Pegula
"Second week, here I come!" wrote Pegula on camera following her win.
Waiting in the fourth round is a career-first singles clash against 2021 Roland Garros champion and 20th seed Barbora Krejcikova.
DRAW: Australian Open 2023 women's singles
"She's had a great last couple of years," said Pegula. "Last year she was a little bit hurt, it's seems like she's kind of finding her confidence again."
As for her game plan on Sunday?
"I have a little bit of an idea, I'll definitely have to maybe watch more of her matches," said Pegula, who has only competed against the Czech on the doubles court.
What’s next for Kostyuk?
By matching her 2022 run to the round of 32, Kostyuk's ranking shouldn't dramatically change.
The youngster, currently 61 in the world after cracking the top 50 last February, will strategise with her team to figure out how to more quickly adjust her game when she's under immense pressure.