The eighth-seeded Spanish tennis player Paula Badosa needed 2 hours and a half to defeat the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk with 2-0 (6:2, 5:7, 6:4) and qualify for the fourth round of the Australian Open 2022. The Spanish player saved 10 break points and made 42 unforced errors versus the world’s No 66 Marta Kostyuk, but succeeded to win the match.
Paula Badosa, who is one of the main favorites for winning the titles at the AO 2022, started the first set in the best possible way – with a break. Despite that Marta Kostyuk quickly returned the break, however, the Spanish player succeeded to take a lead of 4:1 and closed the set with 6:2.
The second set also started very comfortable for Paula Badosa who took a lead with a break in the first game and keep the advantage to the seventh game, leading with 4:3. In the eighth game, however, Marta Kostyuk succeeded to break the service of the Spanish player and tied the score – 4:4. After winning their service games the result was moving equal and Paula Badosa was serving to move the set into a tiebreak at a result of 5:6. The Spaniard was not precise enough in the service and gave the chance of her opponent to close the set. Despite, saving two set points, Paula Badosa however, lost the game and the set was for her opponent – 5:7.
The third set was marked again with several breaks for both players. Paula Badosa took a lead in the very beginning, but Marta Kostyuk returned the break. Finally, the Spanish player made one more break and won the match, despite that Marta Kostyuk saved four match points. The Ukrainian player was more aggressive during the set, making 11 winners, but also her preciseness was poor, and had 22 unforced errors.
In the next round, Paula Badosa will face Madison Keys, who defeated Chinese Qiang Wang with 2-1 (4:6, 6:3, 7:6) in another match that lasted almost two hours and a half. In the battle, Madison Keys made 50 winners, but also 50 unforced errors.
