Australian Open: Teen Alarm Down Under: 15-year-old Kostjuk rocks Melbourne

Naughty and fearless, 15-year-old Marta Kostjuk rocks the Happy Slam and has been the youngest player in the third round of the Australian Open since 1996.

From Ulrike Weinrich from Melbourne

Marta Kostjuk earned exactly 228 US dollars in the first two weeks of the new season. Not bad for a 15-year-old girl who is at least in some respects as ticking as many peers. She loves WhatsApp, likes Italian food and has painted her nails in shrill colours. The significance of their current success can be seen not only in the prize money, but also quite clearly.

After their third-round move into the Australian Open, Kostjuk are already secured for the equivalent of about $113,647. This is almost twenty times more than what the Ukrainian super talent has earned so far in her career. However, anyone who expected that Kostjuk, who seemed to be extremely mature, would come to the fourth floor of the media centre after the 6:3,7:5 defeat of the Australian Olivia Rogowska, euphoric at the press conference, was mistaken.

“I break records every year. That’s why I feel okay,”said the youngest third round participant in Melbourne since Martina Hingis in 1996. It didn’t sound arrogant, rather realistic. Twelve months ago, Kostjuk had won the junior women’s event at the Rod Laver Arena – and therefore received a wildcard for this year’s qualifier. In the first round disenchanted the world rankings-521. at her Grand-Slam-Debut on Monday the Chinese Shuai Peng (No. 25) with 6:2,6:2.

Since then, blonde Kostjuk has been the focus of Happy Slam. And she has to declare her love-hate relationship as a tennis player again and again. I’m a perfectionist, and it’s obviously hard to be satisfied in this sport,”said the eloquent teenager in good English. She gave up dancing at the age of eleven,”because I had to pay too much attention to my weight. I was stressed out.”

Kostjuk’s mother, Talina Beiko, was a professional herself and made it to 391rd place in the WTA ranking (1994). But she refrains from coaching:”At Martas age you can’t stand criticism from your mother. I want to push her. But first and foremost, I want to be a mother and give her love.”

Regarding the glamour factor, Kostjuk, who is training in Zagreb and is only allowed to play a total of ten WTA events in 2018, does not have to hide from the competition anyway. Her manager is Ivan Ljubicicic, the Croatian coach of Roger Federer. And the Maestro himself asks more and more often about the development of Kostjuk “Roger asks Ivan after my games how it went. That’s great to know,”she emphasized.

Kostjuk, the cunt with the braided swoon, has so far only talked to Federer twice “a little longer”. Perhaps there will still be time in the next few days to intensify communication with the Swiss. However, the sporting challenges in Melbourne Park will not be easier for the 15-year-old.

In Friday’s match for the next round in Elina Switolina, not only a compatriot, but also the fourth in the world rankings is waiting for the upstart of “Down Under” Marta has nothing to lose. She will risk everything, like a headless chicken,”said Switolina – and is warned by the storm and urge of the Kostyuk brand.

I wanted to marry Novak Djokovic in the olden days,”he says,” but the youngster has already given up a dream. And I think he knew that because it was in the Serbian newspapers,”she betrayed. In the meantime her heart belongs to tennis. At least until, after a defeat, the lively right-hander wants to pepper the racquet back into the corner.