Marta Kostyuk fought through a sloppy first set to beat Katherine Sebov 7-6(4), 6-0, eliminating the Canadian in the second round of the National Bank Open in Toronto on Tuesday.
It was a tale of two sets for Kostyuk, who struggled mightily in the first and looked primed for an upset, but the Canadian could not take advantage before the 24-year-old Ukrainian found the form that has her skyrocketing towards the Top 10 in the rankings.
Sebov entered the day looking to advance past the second round at a WTA Tour-level event for the first time, but will still walk away having won the second WTA 1000 match of her career.
The Toronto-native came screaming out of the gates against the world No. 11, breaking Kostyuk in her first service game and then consolidating with a fairly easy hold to go up a break. The three-time WTA title winner continued to struggle with her serve in the first set and committed a double fault to go down a double break at 4-1. Sebov then ran into her own problems on serve, and opened the door for Kostyuk to get back into the set at 4-4 after back-to-back breaks.
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Kostyuk laboured through the first set, putting just 31 per cent of her first serves in play with seven double faults, while winning just 44 per cent of her second serve points, allowing Sebov to break her three times.
The back-and-forth first set would head to a tiebreak where Kostyuk righted the ship, earning three mini-breaks for a pivotal set win.
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Fresh off her first WTA 1000 win since 2023 but down a set, Sebov was in-tough against the Ukrainian, who is sitting at a career-high in the rankings after reaching the semis at Wimbledon and Roland-Garros.
After missing what seemed like a golden opportunity to take the first set, Sebov could not find that same form in the second. Kostyuk quickly broke the 229th-ranked Canadian in all three of her service games, sweeping the second set to eliminate the hometown favourite in straight sets. The 27-year-old won just 36 per cent of her first-serve points in the second, and could not fight back when put into trouble, as Kostyuk converted three of four break point chances.
Sebov had reached the second round with a straight-sets win over Aoi Ito on Sunday.
Canadians Learn Draw For Women’s Doubles
Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski learned her path in the women’s doubles draw on Tuesday. Partnered with Ekaterina Alexandrova due to an injury to Luisa Stefani, they will open their tournament in a star-studded opening match against Coco Gauff, who won the doubles title last year in Montreal alongside McCartney Kessler, and Caty McNally.
The all-Canadian pair of Bianca Andreescu and Kayla Cross will take on Ulrikke Eikeri and Quinn Gleason in the first round. The Fernandez sisters, Leylah Annie and Bianca Jolie, will open against the sixth-seeded pair of Elise Mertens and Diana Shnaider.
The Davis Cup is coming to Quebec City September 18 and 19 as Team Canada hosts France in the Davis Cup Qualifiers Second Round. Tickets are on sale now. CLICK HERE TO BUY YOUR TICKETS!
Feature Photo: Morgan Givens/Wick Photography for National Bank Open
