Kostyuk: The match turned out easier than I imagined

Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk commented on the victory over Anastasia Potapova in the quarter finals of the tournament WTA 1000 in American Indian Wells.

“The match definitely turned out to be much easier than I imagined. I lost to Potapova in my previous two matches, so I was really preparing for this fight. I’m looking forward to the semi-finals.”

“This is the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 tournament, so you can’t feel relaxed. As I already said on the court, 6:0, 3:0 is not a very good score, to be honest, especially against good players. We were just talking about this with my coach, Sandra, after the match. I’m very pleased with how I handled everything, because in the beginning Potapova made a lot of mistakes, and then she tried to find her way, but I didn’t let her do it. So I think this is my greatest achievement.”

“There is a very fine line between being too passive and letting your opponent get back into the game. Because you win by a very large margin. But at the same time, this is a state where every point you lose is felt very strongly, because you think that the gap is closing. Yeah, I think if you consistently keep doing what you’re supposed to do, eventually everything will work out and you’ll win the match. But often, and I’m not just talking about myself, but in general, you just want to put the ball in the court and wait, maybe she’ll make a mistake. And I myself don’t want to make a mistake.”

“Iga Swiatek is a dangerous opponent for anyone, she is the first racket of the world, that’s obvious. She moves great, changes directions very well. I just hope that the conditions at this tournament will be more favorable for me, we will have a great battle and the crowd will come and enjoy it.”

“I think I need to perform well, at least well. Let’s not create too high expectations. She is a strong fighter and has been at the top of tennis for two years now. I trained with Iga in Doha, I really wanted to play a match with her. I think it will be a great fight. I don’t know what else to say because I’m excited. I played her in Paris three years ago and it was a slightly different match. We were both in a different position then. It’s even more interesting now.”

Kostyuk beat Potapova in two sets. The Ukrainian won the first game with a score of 6:0. In the second set, Marta lost her advantage after the score was 3:0, but in the end she put the finishing touches on her opponent.

For the first time in her career, Kostyuk reached the semifinals of a WTA 1000 series tournament. In her next match, Marta will play against the world number one Iga Szwiatek from Poland.