Marta Kostyuk, Roland Garros dark horse?
The Ukrainian laid down a strong affirmative answer to that question on Saturday with a 6-3, 7-5 upset of No. 9 seed Mirra Andreeva in the final of the Mutua Madrid Open, earning her a first WTA 1000 title of her career.
Kostyuk’s one hour and 21-minute victory extended her unbeaten run on clay this spring to 12 straight matches, which is the longest winning streak of her career. Coming into the first WTA 1000 event of the clay-court season, she won a WTA 250 in Rouen, France, and also scored a win in Billie Jean King Cup play for Ukraine over Magda Linette. She lost just one set on her way to the title, in the semifinals against Anastasia Potapova, and also defeated Jessica Pegula in addition to Andreeva for a pair of Top 10 wins throughout.
Kostyuk will also reach a new career-high ranking of No. 15 on Monday, bettering her prior career best of No. 16.
