Kherson tennis player Yuliia Starodubtseva ended her run at the Australian Open. In three sets the Ukrainian representative lost to Australian Ajla Tomljanović.
This was reported by Suspilne.Sport.
Starodubtseva — one of two Ukrainian tennis players who made it through qualifying to the Australian Open main draw. This was her third appearance at the Australian Open, where she was attempting to get past the opening round of the tournament for the first time.
Starodubtseva’s opponent was local player Ajla Tomljanović, the world No. 78. Because Tomljanović represents Australia, the match involving the Ukrainian became one of the final matches on the second day of play.
The Ukrainian opened the match on a winning note: she won the first set 6:4 thanks to a break in the third game. Despite an equal number of unforced errors with the Australian (16 each), Starodubtseva had more winners (12 to Tomljanović’s 7).
In the second set Starodubtseva managed to come back twice: first from 0:3, and later from 3:5. The Ukrainian forced a tiebreak, but lost it 3:7.
Starodubtseva was unable to turn the tide after losing the tiebreak: Tomljanović pulled away and led 5:1 before the decisive game. In the end the Ukrainian lost the set 1:6.
The Starodubtseva — Tomljanović match lasted 2:33 hours. The Ukrainian had more unforced errors (48 to 40), but also more winners (31 to 19).
Recall, in the semifinals Starodubtseva defeated Greek Despina Papamichail 6:1, 6:2.