Coco Gauff said that she wasn’t happy with her performance against Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the Australian Open 2024 women’s singles match on Tuesday, January 23. At the Rod Laver Arena, Gauff had to fight hard for over three hours before winning the match 7-6 (8-6), 6-7 (3-7), 6-2.

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Kostyuk was in no mood to give up as Gauff had to strain every sinew in the first two sets. In the third and final set, Gauff upped her game to cruise past her Ukrainian opponent.

The 19-year-old Gauff was happy to win the match, but admitted that she was struggling for execution and tried to ‘reset’ herself after every point.

“Today was definitely a C game. Didn’t play my best tennis, but really proud that I was able to get through,” Gauff was quoted as saying.

“Problem solving is tennis. Today was frustrating, because I knew how I needed to play, I just couldn’t execute. Eventually, I was able to find it, which is what I’m proud of.”

“Mentally, I’m one of the strongest out there, and I try my best to reset after each point,” she said.

With the win, Gauff is currently leading Kostyuk 2-0 on the head-to-head count. Prior to the Australian Open, she won the 2022 Adelaide International match against Kostyuk.

Gauff admitted that beating Kostyuk was tough as the Ukrainian has the game to give the best players a run for their money.

“Marta’s a tough opponent, every time we play it’s a tough match. [I’m] happy, really proud of the fight that I showed todayâ€æ I really fought and left it all on the court today,” Gauff added.

Gauff will next be up against World No.2 and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-final of the hard court major. Gauff has won four out of six matches against Sabalenka and also defeated her in the final of the US Open 2023.