MELBOURNE -- Marta Kostyuk survived a late-night thriller at the Australian Open, saving a match point to defeat Elise Mertens 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 [10-6] in the second round. The 21-year-old Ukrainian needed every ounce of energy she had to get past the Belgian veteran, as evidenced by the 42-shot rally she endured late in the final set.
Looking to make her fourth Australian Open third round, Kostyuk stormed back after dropping a competitive first set to take the match into a decider. The final set spanned 83 minutes, with the average rally length nearing seven shots per rally.
With Mertens serving with a game point at 4-4, Kostyuk dug in to prolong the game. The duo had played a 31-shot rally just two points before, but with the game on the line, Kostyuk gritted her teeth to outduel Mertens from the baseline.
Watch the grueling point below:
The effort nearly paid off immediately. After getting the game to deuce, Kostyuk earned a break point for a chance to serve out the win, but Mertens wiped it out with an unreturnable serve.
Kostyuk would face match point on her own serve at 5-6, but the match went into a 10-point match tiebreak after Mertens missed a backhand pass.
In the tiebreak, Kostyuk came back from 3-0 down level at 6-6, before running off the last four points for the win.
Awwwww, look at what it means to @marta_kostyuk!
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 17, 2024
She reached the third round in 2022 and 2023 - and she's done it again in 2024, rallying from a set down to defeat Elise Mertens 5-7 6-1 7-6[6]#AusOpen • @wwos • @espn • @eurosport • @wowowtennis pic.twitter.com/WzrKTbciat
Kostyuk will face Elina Avanesyan next. The Ukrainian is bidding to make her first Grand Slam Round of 16 since 2021 Roland Garros.