Brisbane International | Marvellous Marta as Kostyuk destroys Jessica Pegula to reach final

Marta Kostyuk has had the week of weeks when it comes to the new season with the Ukrainian now beating a third consecutive top 10 opponent to reach the final of the Brisbane International where she now takes on a certain Aryna Sabalenka for the title.

Kostyuk was flawless as she destroyed Pegula 6-0, 6-3. She had previously taken down both Amanda Anisimova and Mirra Andreeva but after clinching back-to-back wins, she also made light work of Pegula to reach the final. She eased into a 6-0, 3-0 lead and could've been even more emphatic against Pegula.

In the fourth game of the second set, Pegula finally got on the board but missed a break point and the American didn't clinch any more chances throughout the game to turn it aroun. She did hold two more times but that was about it as Kostyuk thrived and for Pegula it was an abject display.

Kostyuk fired four aces, converted four out of eight break point chances and saved both of Pegula's break points and now faces off against Sabalenka which will be a tall order given it is the World No.1 who has barely been troubled this week but in reality, Kostyuk has very much had the even better week and in particular taking down Anisimova shows that she could feasibly defeat Sabalenka.

For Kostyuk, it is her first Brisbane final after two prior second round exits. She faces Sabalenka who took down Karolina Muchova 6-3, 6-4 to reach her third consecutive final in comparison. It will be the fifth meeting between the pair with Sabalenka dominating winning all four meetings in straight sets so not a great omen for Kostyuk.

If Kostyuk wins though it would be her second WTA title, she also was hilariously asked if she was running for dinner reservations given the quickness of the win and it wasn't the case albeit it was for a different reason entirely.

“Well, I was rushing to not get the sun on the court because it’s a really terrible shadow. So I was like, ‘I need to be done very quickly," said Kostyuk on court.

“But no, honestly, it’s all jokes. I don’t know — I mean, I started unbelievably and, you know, we’re all human beings, so I was like, ‘OK, it’s going to end at some point, probably today.’ Maybe not today, but yeah, I’m very happy with how I stayed until the end of the match.

“It’s never easy when you’re up 6–0, 3–0, and you kind of expect that it’s going to end the same way. But Jess is an amazing player, top 10 for many years, and I was expecting a fight. I was expecting her to come back, and I was tense until the last point.

“I even thought I missed it, but it went in. And yeah, I’m very happy to be in the final.”

She was then asked the one thing that made the difference in an emphatic win in her mind. “I think I wasn’t rushing in the points. I think it’s really important with Jess to make her play, to make her run, and I think I did that really well today — changing pace.

“It was much warmer today than it was the last two nights for me, and the ball was going much faster, so I felt like I had more advantage because of that too. The points were shorter, and I’m very happy it was shorter points today.

“But honestly, for me, tennis is such a complex sport that one thing never defines something. I think it’s a combination of things — and it was just a very good day for me.”