2024-01-24 05:44:00
The upper half of the women’s bracket at this year’s Australian Open was full of surprises and even sensations, as this is how one should evaluate the presence in the quarterfinals of the 50th world player Linda Noskova, who eliminated Ig Witek, and Dajana Jastremska (93rd WTA), who started in Melbourne the third week of competition, as it has completed three-stage qualifications.
It was difficult to assess which of them was the favorite in this match, because for both players the Grand Slam quarterfinal was the greatest achievement in their careers so far. In addition, a 19-year-old met a 23-year-old, and in a match with such high stakes, dealing with emotions is often the key to success.
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The match was very even from the beginning. Noskova was the first to break, but Jastremska’s response came instantly. The competition was game by game, although many of them were advantageous. The Czech missed her break point opportunity in the seventh game, which turned out to be very costly because her opponent was more effective. This gave Dajana Yastremska a 6-3 victory in the first set following 37 minutes of fighting. The game was even, but the opening game went very quickly as we hardly saw any long rallies. In this part of the match there was only one action over nine shots.
The second set was quite similar. Again, the games were very even, the returning player usually scored two or three points, but for six games there was not even a break point. Jastremska gained the first advantage when passing her opponent. On the third chance, she managed to break Noskova. A single break proved decisive. The 23-year-old Ukrainian left no doubt and won the entire match 6:2, 6:3. It took her an hour and 20 minutes.
Dayana Jastremska served much better and also dominated the statistics in the rally. She sent 19 winners to six opponents. She also made more unforced errors, but the difference is much smaller – 23 to 21. Both players proved that they do not play in half-measures. There were only four actions over nine shots in the entire match.
The Ukrainian’s advancement means that the 93rd player in the world who advanced to the main tournament from qualifying is in the semi-finals of the Australian Open. She is the first to do so in Melbourne since 1978. The story of Emma Raducanu immediately comes to mind. The Briton won the US Open in 2021 as a qualifier. Jastremska will face the better of the pair Anna Kalińska – Qinwen Zheng in the semi-final.
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