Marta Kostyuk reaches the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time after victory over Ashlyn Krueger
Marta Kostyuk achieved one of the most important results of her career on the grass of the All England Club. The Ukrainian tennis player, the 12th seed at Wimbledon 2026, defeated the American player Ashlyn Krueger 6-4, 6-4 in the fourth round of the women's singles tournament played on July 6, 2026, in London. The official Wimbledon results overview confirms Kostyuk's victory in two sets, while according to the published schedule and results services, the match was part of the programme on Court No. 2. With that, Kostyuk reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time, and at the same time ended the run of Krueger, the last unseeded player remaining in the draw. In the quarterfinals she will face Italy's Jasmine Paolini, the 13th seed, who advanced on the same day after a victory over Alexandra Eala.
The victory carried greater weight than just a place among the last eight because Kostyuk had to overturn an uncomfortable score deficit in the second set. According to the Field Level Media/Reuters report carried by GMA News Online, Krueger took a 4-2 lead in the second set, but Kostyuk responded with two consecutive breaks and closed the match without going to a third set. Such a finish further highlighted the difference in stability between the seed and an opponent who had already recorded several important victories during the tournament. In the key moments, Kostyuk managed to shorten the points, attack the second serve more aggressively and force Krueger to seek additional risk. The 6-4, 6-4 score therefore does not describe only a routine passage, but also control of pressure in a phase in which the match could have opened in an entirely different direction.
Risk control decided the duel on Court No. 2
The statistical picture of the match supports the impression that Kostyuk was more decisive and more efficient in the closing stages of important games. According to the same Field Level Media/Reuters report, the Ukrainian player finished the match with a 22-10 advantage in winners and made only 13 unforced errors, while Krueger had 29. Kostyuk converted four of ten break points, which in a two-set match was enough to make up for periods in which her serve did not bring complete security. Especially important was the response in the second set, when Krueger had the initiative and an opportunity to take the match into a closing phase with greater psychological pressure on the favourite. Instead, Kostyuk patiently returned the ball deeper into the court, waited for shorter shots and in the final games showed why she had arrived in London as a highly placed seed.
Krueger entered the match with a reputation as a player who can attack with the first shot and change the rhythm, but on grass such an approach is difficult to sustain if errors pile up in long games. Her winning story at the tournament remains important because, as an unseeded player, she reached the second week of Wimbledon and stayed there longer than a series of higher-ranked names. According to the Wimbledon draw overview, on her way to the fourth round Krueger defeated Donna Vekić, Mariam Bolkvadze and Daria Snigur, thereby making the deepest Wimbledon breakthrough of her career. Still, against Kostyuk she did not manage to maintain the balance between aggression and security for long enough. When she gained an advantage in the second set, she did not find the closing serving rhythm that would have allowed her to extend the match.
The biggest Wimbledon breakthrough for Kostyuk
For Kostyuk, this result is confirmation of progress on a surface on which she had previously not broken through to the final stages of Grand Slam tournaments. In its official player data, the WTA states that on July 7, 2026, Kostyuk was the world No. 13, with a career-high ranking of No. 12. Reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals therefore fits into a broader rise, but it carries special weight because it is happening at a tournament that demands a different balance of movement, serving and quick decision-making. On grass, mistakes are punished faster than on slower surfaces, and players who cannot recognize the direction of a point early often run out of time to correct it. Against Krueger, Kostyuk showed that she can combine attacking potential with enough discipline not to allow the match to turn into a series of unpredictable exchanges.
Her path through the tournament was also demanding enough for the quarterfinal not to look like the consequence of an open draw, but rather the result of steady work through four rounds. According to the official WTA and Wimbledon results, Kostyuk defeated Nadia Podoroska 6-1, 6-2 in the first round, then advanced against Anna Blinkova after a comeback, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3, and in the third round defeated the 23rd seed Emma Navarro 6-2, 4-6, 6-1. In the fourth round against Krueger, she again found a way to avoid a longer physical and mental expense, although the second set became complicated. Such a sequence of results shows that the Ukrainian player has already gone through both convincing victories and matches in which she had to repair the situation during the tournament. It is precisely that combination that is useful in the later stages of a Grand Slam, where a completely linear path can rarely be expected.
Krueger ended the tournament as the last unseeded player in the draw
Ashlyn Krueger left Wimbledon after the defeat, but her performance remains one of the more notable individual breakthroughs in the women's tournament. According to official WTA data available on July 7, 2026, the American was the world No. 102, and her career-high ranking was No. 29. Such a range shows that she is a tennis player who has experience playing at a considerably higher level, but she arrived in London without seeded status and without the protection that seeding brings in the draw. At Wimbledon she made use of open opportunities, and the victory over Donna Vekić in the first round gave her a foundation for the rest of the tournament. With Krueger's elimination in the fourth round, according to the draw overview published by Wimbledon and Sky Sports, the women's singles quarterfinals were made up exclusively of seeds.
That detail is important for the broader context of the tournament because the women's draw in London opened up at the same time with the exits of several of the highest seeds. Sky Sports stated in its results overview that defending champion Iga Świątek did not continue her title defence, while Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina had also exited the tournament earlier. This means that the order of seeds in the closing stages does not necessarily reflect the initial hierarchy of favourites, but rather a new tournament dynamic in which several players find themselves facing a rare opportunity. Kostyuk is one of them, but the victory over Krueger shows that she did not reach that position only thanks to developments in other parts of the draw. Her performance in the fourth round was solid enough to confirm that she can handle the pressure when the stake is a first Wimbledon quarterfinal appearance.
The quarterfinal against Jasmine Paolini opens a new level of challenge
Kostyuk's next opponent will be Jasmine Paolini, the 13th seed from Italy. According to the Sky Sports results overview and the Field Level Media/Reuters report, Paolini defeated Alexandra Eala 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the fourth round and thus secured another quarterfinal on the grass of the All England Club. GMA News Online reported that Paolini made the key break in the deciding set in the eighth game and then served out the victory. The Italian had more winners than her opponent in that match, but also more unforced errors, suggesting that her passage was not without fluctuations. Precisely for that reason, the Kostyuk-Paolini duel may bring an interesting tactical contrast between a player who tries to impose intensity and an opponent who moves very well, changes the height of the ball and often forces opponents to hit one more shot.
Paolini also brings to Wimbledon the experience of playing in major finals, which may be an important factor in the quarterfinal. According to the Field Level Media/Reuters report, Paolini was a Wimbledon finalist in 2024 and became the first Italian woman with multiple quarterfinal appearances at this tournament. Kostyuk, on the other hand, is entering this stage of Wimbledon for the first time, but with form that gives her arguments for an even match. If she manages to maintain a ratio of winners to errors similar to the one against Krueger, she will have room to apply pressure on Paolini's service games. But if the match enters longer exchanges and changes of rhythm, the Italian player could use her experience and ability to adapt to different styles of play.
Wimbledon gets a new closing stage without clear dominance by one favourite
The women's tournament at Wimbledon 2026 ahead of the quarterfinals has an unusually open look, even though only seeds remain among the eight players left. In its overview, Sky Sports lists the pairings Naomi Osaka against Karolína Muchová, Jessica Pegula against Coco Gauff, Marta Kostyuk against Jasmine Paolini and Linda Nosková against Elise Mertens. Such a schedule shows that the closing stage has been divided between players with Grand Slam experience, tennis players seeking new confirmation and those trying to take the final step at Wimbledon for the first time. In that environment, every straight-sets victory gains additional value because it preserves energy for the rhythm of the final week. Kostyuk achieved exactly that against Krueger: she advanced without a third set, but with a demanding enough test to reach the quarterfinal aware of where she needs to be more precise.
The All England Club remains a tournament where the change of surface alters the balance of power more than rankings and seedings suggest. Official Wimbledon tournament statistics show that Kostyuk had a solid percentage of points won after her first serve up to this stage, while Krueger had a higher number of aces during the tournament, but also significantly more double faults. In their head-to-head meeting, the other side of that equation proved decisive: efficiency in return games and the ability not to lose structure when the opponent took the initiative. For Kostyuk, that is a sign that her game on grass is no longer based only on attack, but also on recognizing the moment when risk needs to be reduced. Such maturity will also be needed against Paolini, because a Wimbledon quarterfinal rarely rewards shot power alone.
With a 6-4, 6-4 victory, Kostyuk closed the story of the last unseeded player in the draw and opened her own opportunity for the biggest Wimbledon result of her career. In sporting terms, her passage represents a combination of the expected outcome for a seed and a personal breakthrough at a tournament where she had not previously reached this level. In symbolic terms, the match against Krueger was confirmation that the Ukrainian player can win contests in which the score does not always move in a straight line toward the favourite. The quarterfinal against Paolini will be a different challenge, with more experience on the other side of the net and with greater pressure in the final week. But Kostyuk enters that match after a performance that showed she can play aggressively, patiently and calmly enough on the grass of Wimbledon when the most important moment opens up.
Sources:
- Wimbledon / The Championships – official Wimbledon 2026 results and confirmation of completed women's singles matches (link)
- Wimbledon / The Championships – official 2026 women's singles draw in PDF form (link)
- WTA – official profile and statistics of Marta Kostyuk, including ranking and tournament data (link)
- WTA – official profile and statistics of Ashlyn Krueger, including ranking and career-high position (link)
- WTA – official results of The Championships, Wimbledon 2026 tournament and related match reports (link)
- Wimbledon / The Championships – official Marta Kostyuk profile with tournament statistics at Wimbledon 2026 (link)
- Wimbledon / The Championships – official Ashlyn Krueger profile with path through the draw and tournament statistics (link)
- GMA News Online / Field Level Media / Reuters – report on the victories of Marta Kostyuk and Jasmine Paolini and statistical data from the fourth-round matches (link)
- Sky Sports – overview of the women's draw, results and quarterfinal pairings at Wimbledon 2026 (link)