07/08/26 10:20:00
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07/08 10:18 CDT Marta Kostyuk beats Jasmine Paolini to set up Wimbledon
semifinal against Linda Noskova
Marta Kostyuk beats Jasmine Paolini to set up Wimbledon semifinal against Linda
Noskova
LONDON (AP) --- Marta Kostyuk made a big impression in her Centre Court debut
by beating Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-2 to reach her first Wimbledon semifinals on
Wednesday.
The 24-year-old Ukrainian also reached the last four at the French Open, losing
to Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva, the eventual champion in Paris.
Kostyuk raised her hands and dropped to her knees after Paolini scuffed a shot
on her second match point. After shaking hands with the Italian, Kostyuk did a
pirouette on court.
The 12th-seeded Kostyuk had a sneak peak at Centre Court on Tuesday so that she
wasn't overwhelmed for the match.
"I was flabbergasted by this entrance and everything inside," she said in an
on-court interview. "I was like, ?wow,' I need one day to recover from what I
saw. ... I was on this court as (a) spectator once nine years ago watching
Roger (Federer)."
Kostyuk will be back on Centre Court on Thursday to face Linda Noskova for a
spot in Saturday's final. Noskova beat Elise Mertens 6-3, 7-5 on No. 1 Court.
It's the first career Grand Slam semifinal for the 21-year-old Noskova, who
improved to 10-1 on grass this season.
"I was as a little bit nervous before the match," said Noskova, who beat
Jessica Pegula in the Berlin Open final in the buildup to Wimbledon. "Usually
when its really, really important for me and I'm putting a little bit of
pressure on myself, that's when I play the best."
The other women's semifinal features Coco Gauff against Karolina Muchova, who
like Noskova is from the Czech Republic. They're up first on Centre Court on
Thursday.
Paolini, the 2024 Wimbledon runner-up, made 26 unforced errors and hit just
eight winners.
Two men's quarterfinals were also being played Thursday. British wild card
Arthur Fery and Flavio Cobolli of Italy were on Centre Court and had a surprise
visitor --- Britain's Queen Camilla --- in the hallway moments before they
walked onto court.
On No. 1 Court, French Open champion Alexander Zverev was facing Taylor Fritz
of the United States.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
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