LONDON (AP) — Marta Kostyuk made a big impression in her Centre Court debut by beating Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-2 to reach her first Wimbledon semifinals on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old Ukrainian also reached the last four at the French Open, losing to Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva, the eventual champion in Paris.
Kostyuk raised her hands and dropped to her knees after Paolini scuffed a shot on her second match point. After shaking hands with the Italian, Kostyuk did a pirouette on court.
The 12th-seeded Kostyuk had a sneak peak at Centre Court on Tuesday so that she wasn't overwhelmed for the match.
“I was flabbergasted by this entrance and everything inside,” she said in an on-court interview. “I was like, ‘wow,’ I need one day to recover from what I saw. ... I was on this court as (a) spectator once nine years ago watching Roger (Federer)."
Kostyuk will be back on Centre Court on Thursday to face Linda Noskova for a spot in Saturday's final. Noskova beat Elise Mertens 6-3, 7-5 on No. 1 Court.
It's the first career Grand Slam semifinal for the 21-year-old Noskova, who improved to 10-1 on grass this season.
“I was as a little bit nervous before the match,” said Noskova, who beat Jessica Pegula in the Berlin Open final in the buildup to Wimbledon. “Usually when its really, really important for me and I'm putting a little bit of pressure on myself, that's when I play the best.”
The other women's semifinal features Coco Gauff against Karolina Muchova, who like Noskova is from the Czech Republic. They're up first on Centre Court on Thursday.
Paolini, the 2024 Wimbledon runner-up, made 26 unforced errors and hit just eight winners.
Two men's quarterfinals were also being played Thursday. British wild card Arthur Fery and Flavio Cobolli of Italy were on Centre Court and had a surprise visitor — Britain’s Queen Camilla — in the hallway moments before they walked onto court.
On No. 1 Court, French Open champion Alexander Zverev was facing Taylor Fritz of the United States.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
