SYDNEY, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Marta Kostyuk beat world number nine Mirra Andreeva on Friday night to advance to the semifinals at the Brisbane International where she will face Jessica Pegula on Saturday.
Kostyuk, the 26th-ranked player in the world, defeated Andreeva 7-6, 6-3 in one hour and 47 minutes for her second win against a top-10 opponent in 24 hours after beating world number three Amanda Anisimova in straight sets in a late-night match on Thursday.
Leading 4-3 on serve in the opening set, Kostyuk hit a crosscourt forehand winner to break Andreeva's serve for the first time, but could not capitalize on the opportunity to win the set on her own serve as Andreeva immediately broke back and went on to force a tiebreak.
Kostyuk's powerful hitting made the difference in the tiebreak as she hit consecutive backhand winners to set up and convert her third set point opportunity.
The Ukrainian hit her 37th winner of the match with a forehand volley for match point at 5-3 in the second set, which she converted when Andreeva's backhand hit the net.
"I felt like I had to start really aggressive, really energetic and find a way," Kostyuk said
Earlier on Friday evening, world number six Pegula defeated Liudmila Samsonova 6-3, 7-6 in one hour and 51 minutes for her first win in straight sets at the tournament.
The 31-year-old American started slowly, dropping the first three games to Samsonova before winning six consecutive games to win the first set and take control of the match.
"I feel like I'm a really good returner so I can always give myself chances to break back and that's what I did," Pegula said on court.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka will play the 20th-ranked Karolina Muchova in the other semifinal. ■
