Marta Kostyuk
Marta Kostyuk

LONDON — Marta Kostyuk defeated American Ashlyn Krueger 6-4, 6-4 on Monday to reach her first Wimbledon quarterfinal, continuing a breakout season for the Ukrainian that has now seen her advance to the fourth round or better at all four Grand Slam tournaments.

The match, played on No. 2 Court, pitted the No. 13-seeded Kostyuk against Krueger, an American ranked outside the top 100 who had been enjoying the best run of her career on grass. Kostyuk used her aggressive baseline game and sharp return of serve to overcome a confident Krueger, closing out the win in straight sets to book a spot in her first Wimbledon quarterfinal.

The victory extended what has become one of the more remarkable turnarounds on the WTA Tour this season. Kostyuk has now won 19 of her last 20 matches, a stretch that included a run to the semifinals at Roland Garros earlier this year, a tournament where she memorably ended four-time champion Iga Swiatek's run in the earliest French Open exit of Swiatek's career in seven years. Kostyuk entered Wimbledon with a modest 19-19 career record on grass and had previously never advanced past the third round at the All England Club, a surface she has openly said used to feel like her worst.

Kostyuk's win over Krueger followed a hard-fought third-round victory over American Emma Navarro, whom Kostyuk beat 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 after saving four of five break points she faced. That win was particularly significant given that Navarro had beaten Kostyuk in all four of their previous meetings. Reflecting on her run to the fourth round after that match, Kostyuk said she had never expected to reach that stage of the tournament, adding that regardless of the outcome, the most important thing was to enjoy the experience fully.

Kostyuk has also been candid about her prior struggles on grass, saying she had played what she described as horrendous tennis at Wimbledon in previous years and had never been able to find her form on the surface at any level of tournament, whether at the majors or smaller grass-court events. She noted that even in the lead-up to this year's tournament, she had lost most of her practice sets, including matches against Serena Williams and Jessica Pegula, before turning her form around once the event began.

With Monday's win, the 24-year-old Kostyuk moved into rarefied statistical territory. According to tournament statistics provider Opta, she became just the fourth player born in the 2000s to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal on all three major surfaces, hard court, clay and grass, joining Iga Swiatek, Amanda Anisimova and Coco Gauff as the only players born in that decade to have accomplished the feat. The result also pushed Kostyuk to the brink of a maiden top-10 ranking, with her live ranking rising to No. 11, just 194 points behind the current No. 10, Victoria Mboko, who withdrew from this year's Wimbledon due to a knee injury sustained at the Queen's Club tournament.

For Krueger, the loss ended what had already been the best Grand Slam result of her career. Having reached the fourth round of a major for the first time, Krueger arrived at Wimbledon on the back of a 16-1 record on grass this season, a stretch that included winning the WTA 125 title in Ilkley and reaching the semifinals in Birmingham. Her run through the tournament included straight-set wins over Mariam Bolkvadze and Daria Snigur, along with a tighter three-set victory over 2024 semifinalist Donna Vekic in her opening match.

Monday's meeting marked the second career encounter between the two players. Krueger had won their first meeting in straight sets at a hard-court tournament in Adelaide in 2025, a result that briefly gave her the edge in their head-to-head series. Kostyuk's win on Monday evened that record and marked a significant statement given the difference in surface and stakes between the two matchups.

Krueger's run through the tournament had drawn attention in part because she began the year outside the top 100 after failing to defend key ranking points from the previous season. Her performances on grass this year, capped by her deepest Grand Slam run to date, are expected to lift her ranking closer to the top 60 in the coming weeks, even after Monday's defeat.

Kostyuk will next face the winner of a separate fourth-round match between Italy's Jasmine Paolini, the No. 13 seed, and Filipino player Alexandra Eala, the No. 29 seed, as she continues her push toward a first Wimbledon semifinal appearance. Her run this fortnight has established her as one of the more credible outsiders remaining in a wide-open women's draw, following her breakthrough run to the semifinals in Paris earlier this season.

The result continues a trend of deep runs for Kostyuk across each of the sport's four majors this year, a consistency that has become a defining feature of her 2026 season. Having entered the year without a clear signature surface, she now finds herself with credible results on all three, a development that has repositioned her as a genuine contender heading into the latter stages of the year's grass-court major.

Play at Wimbledon continues through the remainder of the week, with the men's and women's quarterfinals set to further narrow the field as the tournament moves toward its concluding rounds later this month.

Read more