Kostyuk continues year of firsts, rallying past Andreeva to reach Cincy quarters

Marta Kostyuk has consistently reached new heights in 2026, and Wednesday was no exception. The No. 10 seed came from a set down to defeat No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 in 1 hour and 33 minutes to reach the Cincinnati quarterfinals for the first time.

Cincinnati: Scores | Order of play | Draws

The win is Kostyuk's eighth Top 10 victory of the season, tying Elena Rybakina and Elina Svitolina for the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz lead. She also improves to 3-1 against Andreeva.

"We want to get better... and some things just take time," Kostyuk told reporters. "It took me this much time to get to where I am right now. But I'm focusing on the process and I keep getting better. So I'm not that focused on the results or ranking or whatever. I just try to be consistent in everyday work."

Here's how she flipped the match in her favor.

Riding the forehand: Kostyuk started slowly, dropping serve in the first game and never fully recovering from the early break. But late in the set, she found her forehand -- the shot that sparked her turnaround.

From 4-3 in the first set on, her forehand dictated play. Of her 25 winners, more than half came off that wing, complemented by seven aces.

Six of those forehand winners came in a dominant second set in which she swept all six games, producing the first bagel by either player in the pair's four meetings.

Advantage Kostyuk on big points: After the opening break, Kostyuk faced only two more break points the rest of the match. The second came with the Ukrainian leading 3-1 in the decider, moments after a break and having taken nine of the previous 10 games.

Looking to consolidate for a commanding lead, she suddenly netted two balls and sent a forehand long to hand Andreeva a break point. But a 16-shot defensive stand coerced her opponent into an error and brought her to deuce.

Kostyuk followed with back-to-back aces to hold for 4-1.

An exclamation point on a statement win: Serving to stay in the match, Andreeva started on the right foot. She hit a forehand winner for 15-0 and raced to a 40-0 advantage.

But Kostyuk answered with her own forehand winner, then watched Andreeva double fault to bring up deuce. Another forehand found the corner to set up match point, and Andreeva's final backhand sail long -- giving Kostyuk the break from 40-0 down and, with it, the match.

Kostyuk will face the winner of No. 4 seed Coco Gauff and No. 22 seed Marie Bouzkova in the quarterfinals. Bouzkova leads their head-to-head 2-0. Gauff leads 3-2, but Kostyuk won their most recent meeting in Doha in 2025.