Marta Kostyuk is one of the few Ukrainian players in the women’s singles draw to play in the Round of 16 at the Australian Open 2024. After her win some days ago in the Round of 32, Kostyuk controversially brought up the Russia-Ukraine war again in a press conference that tennis is insignificant at the moment due to the people of Ukraine, including her family members in Kyiv, struggling badly there. The timing of these comments has come just before she is scheduled to take on the young Russian, Maria Timofeeva on Saturday night ET. Kostyuk was involved in a similar controversy at the French Open 2023.
Marta Kostyuk has had to go through the grind to come through to the Round of 16. The current World No.35 has won all her matches so far in 3 sets. Kostyuk overcome unseeded American, Claire Liu in the Round of 128.
The 21-year-old Ukrainian backed that up with a comeback win over the 25th seed, Germany’s Elise Mertens in the Round of 64. Kostyuk showed her mental strength against Elina Avanesyan too, ousting her after being one set down. Interestingly, Kostyuk refused to shake hands with Avanesyan after the match due to being extremely passionate about her country with obvious anti-Russian sentiments. Expect something similar and perhaps a even more fiery clash on Saturday.
On the other hand, the 20-year-old Maria Timofeeva has sprung a bigger surprise than Marta Kostyuk perhaps. After having to win 2 qualifying matches at the start, Maria Timofeeva stunned French star Alize Cornet in the very first round, in straight sets. In the second round, Timofeeva took three gruelling sets for the biggest win of her career, ousting 2018 Australian Open champion, Caroline Wozniacki. Maria Timofeeva extended her stupendous form in the third round, with an outstanding 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 win over 10th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Ranked 170 in the world in women’s singles, Maria Timofeeva has had a tournament which clearly does not reflect that, and it won’t matter either on Saturday. Her match against Marta Kostyuk could well be another 3-setter and The SportsRush predicts a 51-49 margin-like win for Timofeeva.
The Kostyuk vs Timofeeva live streaming will be on ESPN+ in the United States and 9Now in Australia. In USA, the match is scheduled to start not before 9 PM ET (1 PM local time) at the Show Court Arena in Melbourne. For broadcast, US fans could watch it on ESPN 2. The Melbourne weather though is not looking good and because of the humidity, chances of rain might hamper the match.
Marta Kostyuk vs Maria Timofeeva: How much will the winner of the match earn in prize money?
The loser of the Australian Open 2024 Round of 16 Marta Kostyuk vs Maria Timofeeva match stands to earn $250,000 USD from the tournament. On the other hand, the winner will progress to the quarterfinals and will earn surely a minimum of $367,000 USD for her efforts.
This will be more than the current overall career prize money earnings of Maria Timofeeva, which stands at a meagre $183,358 USD at present. While Marta Kostyuk has a good $3,238,278 USD to her name in earnings so far. The winner of the match could potentially face one of the tournament’s favorites and reigning US Open champion, Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals.
