With the Grand Slam action done and dusted for the 2024 season, the eyeballs shift to the Asian swing of the WTA Tour. This part of the season presents a golden opportunity for the budding stars to leave their mark on the tour. One among them is the 20-year-old Diana Shnaider, who is having a breakthrough 2024 season. As she bids to continue her impressive form this year, Shnaider has a challenging task ahead. The Russian star will face Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine in the event’s QFs. It will be a tense encounter between the two in-form players and could be anybody’s game.

Diana Shnaider vs Marta Kostyuk: Preview

“Three surfaces, three titles, and a whole lot of confidence.” Diana Shnaider has already has won 3 singles titles this season on three different surfaces, including Thailand Open (hard), Bad Homburg (grass), and Budapest Open (clay). As a result, she has become the youngest woman to do so since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009.

Further, the Asian swing presents a wonderful opportunity for her to add more titles to her tally. As a result, the fourth seed, Diana Shnaider, will go out all pumped up against Kostyuk. Although Kostyuk is yet to win a title this year, she has had a consistent run in the tournaments like Shnaider. Further, she even reached a couple of finals in San Diego and Stuttgart, but fell in the final hurdle. Kostyuk, the fifth seed in Seoul, expects herself to give it her all to dig deep in the tournament.

Diana Shnaider, the No. 4 seed, advanced to her sixth tour-level quarterfinal of 2024 by defeating qualifier Carol Zhao in straight sets in R16. Marta Kostyuk defeated Heather Watson in straight sets, causing Watson’s elimination from the Korea Open.

Shnaider vs Kostyuk: Head-to-head

Diana Shnaider and Kostyuk are yet to face off against each other. The Korea Open quarterfinal will be the maiden encounter between them. Given their unfamiliarity with playing against each other, expect a see-saw battle that will have frequent momentum shifts.

Preview: Shnaider to prevail in a nail-biting encounter

Very little separates the two players when it comes to their WTA ranking and their form of late. While Shnaider is ranked 16th in the WTA rankings, Kostyuk lies just 2 spots below her at the 18th position. However, one clear advantage for Shnaider has been her win-loss record in 2024. The Russian star has played as many as 62 matches, winning an impressive 45 of them. On the contrary, Kostyuk has just 28 wins while suffering 16 defeats in 2024.

This match between two promising young players could be a preview of future Top 10 clashes. Both have immense potential but are still refining their games, which can occasionally lead to inconsistent play. Marta Kostyuk’s familiarity with lefties might give her an advantage in the cross-court exchanges against Diana Shnaider. Another impressive stat about Shnaider’s game has been her serves. During her victory over Carol Zhao, she was broken just once in the entire match. On the other hand, she broke Zhao’s serve on four occasions. Hence, Diana Shnaider is expected to prevail in a close encounter that will last 3 sets.