Barbora Krejčíková lost to Marta Kosťuková 6:3, 1:6, 4:6, and the Czech women’s tennis players now lead Ukraine only 2:1 in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers.
The twelfth player in the world Krejčíková did not manage a well-played duel on clay in Belek, she lost in two hours and six minutes and did not follow up on Friday’s victory over Zavacka. She lost the third out of four mutual matches against the 20-year-old Kosťuková. The qualifiers are being played on neutral ground in Turkey due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In the event of Vondroušová’s failure, the winners would be decided by the doubles match, in which Linda Nosková and Karolína Muchová are entered against Ljudmila Kičenoková and Dajana Jastremská. But the nomination can change.
The two-time winner of last year’s Roland Garros Krejčíková started better against the 38th player in the world Kosťuková. She got a break in the fourth game and soon raced to a 4-1 lead. Although the Czech tennis player also lost her serve due to two double faults in the seventh game, she immediately won another break and ended the set after 48 minutes of play.
Kostuková did not give up and was not broken even by a lost serve at the beginning of the second set. Krejčíková repeated two double faults in one game, lost the lead and could not rely on the serve until the end of the set. She lost six games in a row.
The decision came in the ninth game of the third set, when Krejčíková lost on serve 0:40. The native of Brno saved two break points, but made a double fault on the third one, and Kosťuková was already adding to the match with a clean game.
Krejčíková paid for eight double faults in the duel. Kostuková had two more, but she helped herself with 39 winning balls.
Qualifying Billie Jean King Tennis Cup in Belek (Turkey):
Ukraine – Czech Republic 1:2 after the third singles match
Kostuková – Krejčíková 3:6, 6:1, 6:4.
