Marta Kostyuk earns best win by ranking against Coco Gauff in Stuttgart quarterfinals

Just over a month after her first win over a Top 5 player, Marta Kostyuk earned her second on Friday at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix with a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(6) upset of No. 3 seed Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals.

The two-hour, 44-minute victory is the latest milestone in a 2024 season that has just kept getting better for the Ukrainian. In January, the 21-year-old advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open. In February, Kostyuk celebrated her first Top 5 victory when she rallied past Jessica Pegula in the semifinals of the San Diego Open. In March, the Ukrainian achieved a career-high ranking of No. 26 after putting together a semifinal run at Indian Wells. And this week in Stuttgart, Kostyuk has posted back-to-back Top 10 wins for the first time in her career—picking up her biggest win by ranking in the process.

Friday was a day for the underdogs in Stuttgart: Kostyuk’s upset of Gauff closed a day that also saw No. 8 seed Marketa Vondrousova come from a set behind to beat No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka, and Italy’s Jasmine Paolini nearly knock off No. 4 seed Elena Rybakina.

But Kostyuk’s performance might’ve been the most valiant of all. Historically volatile when facing adversity on court, Kostyuk instead steeled herself facing a 6-4, 4-2 deficit to force a third set. In the decider, she rallied twice: from 3-1 down at first, and then, broke Gauff at 6-5 when it looked like the American was going to escape with a victory after saving three match points in the 10th game.

Four more chances to win came and went in the tiebreak after the Ukrainian led 6-2, but a pair of long rallies—most crucially, Gauff missing a forehand passing shot in the net at 6-6—helped push