Aiming to turn out to be the primary participant since Naomi Osaka three years in the past to win back-to-back majors, Gauff had breezed into the Australian Open final eight with a collection of scientific and composed performances.
However, her show towards world quantity 37 Kostyuk – the highest-ranked participant she has confronted up to now – was removed from convincing.
Both gamers seemed tight and tense in a match the place they made 107 unforced errors in a complete of 246 factors.
The three-hour contest featured 16 breaks of serve and Gauff took 9 of them – together with three within the decider.
The teenager has seemed a different proposition over the past six months, enjoying with extra confidence and belief in her means underneath the steerage of famend coach Brad Gilbert.
Showing extra religion in her beforehand shaky forehand has been a key think about her renaissance after a chastening first-round exit at Wimbledon final 12 months.
Since then, Gauff has misplaced solely 4 matches and stays unbeaten firstly of the 2024 season.
But that previous failing reappeared, notably within the second set, as Gauff had to dig deep to discover a well beyond Kostyuk.
On her resilience, Gauff stated: “I used to be simply making an attempt to get another sport within the first set, make it aggressive after which one sport was one other.
“In the second, I gave myself alternatives however turned slightly bit passive and after I got here out within the third I used to be simply making an attempt to play aggressive and hit by means of the court docket.”
