WTA Seoul: Diana Shnaider vs Marta Kostyuk; Preview, Head-to-Head and Prediction

With the Grand Slam matches for the 2024 season complete, eyes turn to the Asian swing of the WTA Tour. This part of the season offers a golden opportunity for the rising stars to make their mark on the tour. One of them is 20-year-old Diana Shnaider, who is making her breakthrough in the 2024 season. As she looks to continue her impressive form this year, Shnaider has a challenging task ahead of her. The Russian star will face Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine in the quarterfinals of the event. It will be an exciting clash between the two in-form players and it could be an open match.

Diana Shnaider vs. Marta Kostyuk: Preview

“Three surfaces, three titles and a lot of self-confidence.” Diana Shnaider has already won three singles titles on three different surfaces this season, including the Thailand Open (hard court), Bad Homburg (grass court) and Budapest Open (clay court), making her the youngest woman to do so since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009.

In addition, the Asian tour offers her a wonderful opportunity to win more titles, so fourth seed Diana Shnaider will be full of energy to face Kostyuk. Although Kostyuk has not won a title this year, she, like Shnaider, has shown consistent performance in tournaments. She even reached a couple of finals in San Diego and Stuttgart, but fell at the last hurdle. Kostyuk, who is seeded fifth in Seoul, expects to give it her all to go far in the tournament.

Diana Shnaider, the No. 4 seed, reached her sixth tour quarterfinal of 2024 by defeating qualifier Carol Zhao in straight sets in round 16. Marta Kostyuk defeated Heather Watson in straight sets to exit the Korea Open.

Shnaider vs. Kostyuk: Direct comparison

Diana Shnaider and Kostyuk have never played against each other before. The Korea Open quarterfinals will be their first meeting. Since they are not used to playing against each other, expect a fickle duel with frequent changes of momentum.

Preview: Shnaider prevails in nerve-wracking encounter

In terms of their WTA ranking and recent form, the two players are only a very small distance apart. While Shnaider is ranked 16th in the WTA rankings, Kostyuk is just two places behind her at 18th. However, a clear advantage for Shnaider is her record in 2024. The Russian star has played no less than 62 matches and won an impressive 45 of them. In contrast, Kostyuk has suffered only 28 wins and 16 losses in 2024.

This match between two promising young players could be a preview of future top-10 clashes. Both have tremendous potential but are still refining their game, which can occasionally lead to inconsistent play. Marta Kostyuk's familiarity with left-handers could give her an edge in cross-court shots against Diana Shnaider. Another impressive statistic of Shnaider's game is her serves. During her win over Carol Zhao, she was broken only once in the entire match. On the other hand, she broke Zhao four times. Therefore, Diana Shnaider is expected to have the upper hand in a close match that will last three sets.