Stepping on the Center Court at Wimbledon for the first time is one of the most daunting tasks in tennis, which is why Marta Kostyuk was not taking any chances. Before her quarterfinal clash against Jasmine Paolini at SW19 this year, the Ukrainian player was advised by her coach to take a special measure to ensure she would not feel the overbearing aura of one of tennis’s most important courts.

“Thank God my coach made me walk here yesterday”, said Kostyuk in her on-court interview. “I was flabbergasted by this entrance and everything inside. I was like ‘Wow, I need one day to recover from what I saw.”

This is the first time the Ukrainian player has reached this far at SW19, with her previous best being a fourth-round appearance in 2021. Familiarising herself with the surroundings before the match proved to be a masterstroke as Kostyuk hit the ground running.

Kostyuk got an early break in the fifth game of the first set, which helped her build a 5-3 lead, following which she broke Paolini once more, winning the set 6-3. The Ukrainian’s confidence was at an all-time high as she did not take her foot off the pedal, breaking early in the second set as well to take a 4-1 lead. By then, any chance of a Paolini recovery was all but over, as Kostyuk got another break of serve to close out the match. Going around the court the day before seemed to have helped her gauge the court’s dimensions, as she served brilliantly, hitting her spots, and did not face a single break point against a quality returner like Paolini.

The Center Court aura has been known to be overbearing for many a player. No one has to look far beyond Amnad Anisimova’s brutal meltdown against Iga Swiatek in last year’s final, as the sense of the occasion of playing on that court, along with fatigue, completely derailed the American’s campaign. Her coach, Rick Vleesehouwers, later lamented this fact. However, in Kostyuk’s case, she had her coach, Sandra Zaniewska, who seems to be the mastermind behind the scenes of the Ukrainian’s success.

However, Kostyuk is not done with the Center Court just yet, as she will face the challenge of Linda Noskova in her maiden Wimbledon semifinal on Thursday.

Marta Kostyuk Set to Face Linda Noskova at the Wimbledon Semifinal

Kostyuk’s win over Paolini set up an intriguing semifinal matchup between the Ukrainian player and Linda Noskova, both of whom will be playing in their maiden Wimbledon semifinal. While this will be Noskova’s maiden Major semifinal, Kostyuk has experience playing in one, having done so last month at Roland Garros, where she lost to Mirra Andreeva.

Grass-court tennis has played an important role in both players’ careers, as Noskova is known for her grass-court prowess, thanks to her serve and powerful groundstrokes, which are suited to the faster surface. The Czech player had a great warm-up run ahead of SW19, winning the title in Berlin with a win over Jessica Pegula in the final.

On the other hand, grass has been Kostyuk’s Achilles’ heel, with the Ukrainian player’s results on the surface consistently underwhelming. Even this year, it was her 17-1 win-loss record on clay that saw her surge through the rankings, with the Ukrainian player deciding to play practice sets at Wimbledon rather than spend her energy in warm-up events. Once again, it was her coach, Zaniewska, who had to assure her that she had the skill set to succeed on the surface. The encouragement seemed to have taken effect as she beat high-quality players like Emma Navarro and Paolini, who had previously had success at SW19.

Kostyuk has already beaten Noskova once this year during her title run in Madrid, but on grass, the Czech player is a force to be reckoned with, with the match having the potential to be a close three-setter.