Linda Noskova vs. Marta Kostyuk — US Open 2026 Fourth-Round Match Report
Linda Noskova had already discovered how difficult Marta Kostyuk was to finish.
At 5-4 in the second set, match points came and went on Noskova’s serve. Minutes later, the set was gone.
At 5-4 in the decider, the same danger returned.
This time Noskova found the combination.
The Czech finally solved what had become a thoroughly awkward Kostyuk Cube, surviving another tense final service game to complete a 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 victory in one of the highest-quality matches of this US Open.
Relief rather than celebration came first.
With good reason.
Noskova Finds the First Set’s Final Opening
The first set immediately established how little separation there would be.
Kostyuk was broken in the opening game but struck straight back for 1-1.
From there, both settled briefly.
Kostyuk held for 2-1, Noskova for 2-2, and the pattern continued to 3-3.
Then Noskova moved first.
She broke for 4-3.
Kostyuk answered immediately, breaking back for 4-4 and then holding for 5-4.
Noskova held for 5-5.
The decisive opening came in the next game.
Kostyuk lost serve again, leaving Noskova at 6-5 with the chance to close.
This time she did.
7-5.
There was already a clear theme: neither woman was giving the other an easy route through.
Set 1 at a Glance
- Noskova won 67% of pressure points (8 of 12) against Kostyuk’s 33% (4 of 12) — the difference that decided a close set.
- Kostyuk hit more winners (15 to 9) and 3 aces to Noskova’s 0, but neither of those translated into the scoreboard.
- Noskova edged the total points race 41 to 38, capitalizing on 3 of 4 break chances while Kostyuk managed 2 of 2 from fewer opportunities.
Full Set 1 Stats
| Kostyuk | Statistic | Noskova |
|---|---|---|
| Set 1 Duration: 0h55m | ||
| 0.95 | Dominance Ratio | 1.05 |
| 15 | Winners | 9 |
| 13 | Unforced Errors | 11 |
| 212 | Serve Rating | 228 |
| 3 | Aces | 0 |
| 3 | Double Faults | 4 |
| 56% (18/32) | 1st Serve % | 55% (26/47) |
| 56% (10/18) | 1st Serve Points Won | 58% (15/26) |
| 50% (7/14) | 2nd Serve Points Won | 52% (11/21) |
| 25% (1/4) | Break Points Saved | 0% (0/2) |
| 223 | Return Rating | 219 |
| 42% (11/26) | 1st Return Points Won | 44% (8/18) |
| 48% (10/21) | 2nd Return Points Won | 50% (7/14) |
| 2/2 | Break Points Won | 3/4 |
| 38 | Total Points Won | 41 |
Match Points Disappear and Kostyuk Takes the Second
The second set was even tighter.
The first six games all stayed with serve before Noskova finally broke for 4-3.
She consolidated for 5-3 and suddenly stood one game from the quarterfinals.
Kostyuk held for 4-5.
Noskova then served for the match.
This was where the contest changed.
She reached match points but could not finish. Suddenly, Kostyuk was flying around the court and retrieving everything that came her way. Noskova watched the momentum turn and began to unravel mentally.
Kostyuk survived, broke back for 5-5, and the emotional balance shifted sharply.
Noskova had been within touching distance.
Now she had to process the fact that the match was still alive.
Kostyuk held for 6-5 and then broke again.
7-5.
A match Noskova had been ready to finish was suddenly heading into a deciding set.
The despair was visible.
The problem was knowing how close she had already been to avoiding a third.
Set 2 at a Glance
- Kostyuk saved a break point off Noskova only once but hit 4 aces to Noskova’s 0, powering a 70% service-points rate (21 of 30) against Noskova’s 61% (20 of 33).
- Kostyuk converted 2 of 3 break chances, while Noskova got just 1, but off a single opportunity — a small sample either way.
- Kostyuk closed out the set comfortably, 34 to 29 total points, with 14 winners to Noskova’s 5.
Full Set 2 Stats
| Kostyuk | Statistic | Noskova |
|---|---|---|
| Set 2 Duration: 0h43m | ||
| 1.31 | Dominance Ratio | 0.76 |
| 14 | Winners | 5 |
| 9 | Unforced Errors | 9 |
| 285 | Serve Rating | 241 |
| 4 | Aces | 0 |
| 2 | Double Faults | 2 |
| 73% (22/30) | 1st Serve % | 67% (22/33) |
| 77% (17/22) | 1st Serve Points Won | 73% (16/22) |
| 50% (4/8) | 2nd Serve Points Won | 36% (4/11) |
| 0% (0/1) | Break Points Saved | 33% (1/3) |
| 191 | Return Rating | 190 |
| 27% (6/22) | 1st Return Points Won | 23% (5/22) |
| 64% (7/11) | 2nd Return Points Won | 50% (4/8) |
| 2/3 | Break Points Won | 1/1 |
| 34 | Total Points Won | 29 |
The Kostyuk Cube Gets More Complicated
For a time, the decider looked like another exercise in finding an answer only for Kostyuk to change the question.
The first four games stayed on serve.
Then Noskova broke for 3-2.
Kostyuk immediately broke back.
3-3.
Noskova struck again for 4-3 and this time consolidated.
5-3.
Once more, she was one game away.
Once more, Kostyuk refused to disappear.
She held for 5-4, forcing Noskova to serve for the match again.
That alone was enough to bring the second set back into view.
At 5-4, History Almost Repeats Itself
The final game became the match in miniature.
Noskova reached match point.
Kostyuk resisted again from 4-5 and 15-40 down.
Then came the same deuce.
At one stage Kostyuk moved to advantage, and for Noskova the situation must have looked painfully familiar: another 5-4 lead, another chance to close, another opponent refusing to let go.
This time the Czech stopped the repetition.
Linda Noskova dragged the game back to deuce.
That was the moment the cube finally turned her way.
Noskova created another match point.
Kostyuk saved it.
Another followed.
And eventually Noskova finished what she had been unable to finish in the second set.
6-4.
The reaction said everything.
Not triumph first.
Relief.
Set 3 at a Glance
- Noskova won 67% of pressure points (8 of 12) to Kostyuk’s 33% (4 of 12) — the same pattern that decided Set 1.
- Kostyuk landed 2 aces and no double faults with a clean serve, but her 20% second-serve win rate (2 of 10) badly undercut it.
- Noskova took the total points battle 35 to 32, despite Kostyuk hitting fewer unforced errors, 11 to 17.
Full Set 3 Stats
| Kostyuk | Statistic | Noskova |
|---|---|---|
| Set 3 Duration: 0h49m | ||
| 0.93 | Dominance Ratio | 1.08 |
| 7 | Winners | 13 |
| 11 | Unforced Errors | 17 |
| 225 | Serve Rating | 264 |
| 2 | Aces | 0 |
| 1 | Double Faults | 0 |
| 68% (21/31) | 1st Serve % | 61% (22/36) |
| 76% (16/21) | 1st Serve Points Won | 59% (13/22) |
| 20% (2/10) | 2nd Serve Points Won | 64% (9/14) |
| 50% (2/4) | Break Points Saved | 50% (1/2) |
| 147 | Return Rating | 194 |
| 41% (9/22) | 1st Return Points Won | 24% (5/21) |
| 36% (5/14) | 2nd Return Points Won | 80% (8/10) |
| 1/2 | Break Points Won | 2/4 |
| 32 | Total Points Won | 35 |
One Point Separates Them After 209
The statistics explain why the match felt impossible to call.
Kostyuk won 104 points.
Noskova won 105.
One point separated them across 209.
Kostyuk actually led the dominance ratio, 1.04 to 0.96, and hit more winners, 36 to 27.
Noskova, however, found slightly more stability at the moments that eventually decided the contest.
She won 52 percent of points behind her second serve compared with Kostyuk’s 41 percent, and converted six of nine break points.
Kostyuk converted five of seven.
Both finished with six double faults.
The pressure numbers were revealing too.
Noskova won 19 of 30 pressure points, compared with Kostyuk’s 11.
For a match decided by almost nothing, that was a substantial difference.
Kostyuk Looks Ready for a Bigger Ukrainian Role
Defeat should not obscure Kostyuk’s level.
This was excellent tennis.
She attacked, defended, absorbed Noskova’s weight of shot and repeatedly made the Wimbledon champion solve another problem after appearing to have found the answer.
There is also something increasingly substantial about Kostyuk’s place in Ukrainian tennis.
Elina Svitolina has long carried the flag at the highest level.
Kostyuk looks increasingly capable of assuming more of that responsibility.
This performance, even in defeat, offered another reason why.
Noskova needed three demanding sets, several attempts at closing the match and virtually every bit of composure she could summon to get past her.
From Agony to Relief
Noskova had already lived through the worst version of 5-4 once.
She had served for the match, held match points and watched the opportunity disappear.
When the same score returned in the deciding set, Kostyuk very nearly pulled her back into the same nightmare.
This time Noskova changed the ending.
That made the final emotion understandable.
After a splendid pre-quarterfinal in which 209 points produced a difference of precisely one, Linda Noskova had not so much escaped the Kostyuk Cube as finally worked out how to solve it.
Noskova’s Grand Slam winning streak is now at eleven matches. Can Aryna Sabalenka stop it? She is next.