Marta Kostyuk is still on track for two titles in Klosters. On Friday, the Ukrainian advanced to two semifinals by winning three matches.
The Australian Open champion made a hard schedule look easy. In her opener, Kostyuk was leading 60 10 when Czech Karolina Berankova had to retire. In the afternoon, the top seed, who just turned 15 a month ago, overcame strong opposition from Shalimar Talbi of Belarus. To round it up, Kostyuk partnered Viktoriia Dema to a comfortable win over the Spanish pair of Paula Arian Manjon & Guiomar Maristany Zuleta de Reales.
Today, Kostyuk will have to overcome the challenge of Daria Kuczer. The unseeded Polish player destroyed Switzerland’s medal hopes in singles by eliminating Simona Waltert. The Wimbledon semi-finalist, who used to practice often in Klosters, couldn’t convert six set points to force a decider. Waltert also paid the price for having gone the distance versus German Lara Schmidt, despite having served twice for the match in the second set. Switzerland has assured a medal in Boys doubles thanks to the pairing of Jakub Paul/Damien Wenger.
In the boys draw, the final between number one seed Corentin Moutet and number 2 Zsombor Piros seems the safest bet. The French boy conceded only a total of eight games versus Czech Michael Vrbensky and Nikita Mashtakov of the Ukraine. Piros wasn’t any less convincing. He lost nine games in total versus Dutch Ryan Nijboer and Constantin Bittoun Kouzmine from France. The Hungarian looked in total control so far, winning the points whenever he needed them. As a proof, he finished his quarterfinal by winning 12 points of the last 13.
For the weekend, sun is forecast in the Swiss mountains, so the scenery could match the quality of play. Today, the first gold medals will be distributed as organizers plan to play both semi-finals and finals of doubles.
For full results and further information from Klosters and the other European Junior Championships venues, see below...
14 & Under
Boys Singles | Boys Doubles | Girls Singles | Girls Doubles | Order of Play | Photos
Live Stream: Centre Court | Court 1 | Court 2
16 & Under
Boys Singles | Boys Doubles | Girls Singles | Girls Doubles | Order of Play | Photos
18 & Under
Boys Singles | Boys Doubles | Girls Singles | Girls Doubles | Order of Play | Facebook | Live Stream | Live Scores | Photos