Emma Raducanu conqueror pulls off bizarre ace and reacts sheepishly as opponent stunned | Tennis | Sport

Marta Kostyuk had an awkward reaction after hitting one of the strangest aces ever seen on a tennis court. The No. 24 seed at the Madrid Open, Kostyuk beat Emma Raducanu in the previous round to set up a showdown with Veronika Kudermetova.

Kostyuk got off to a blinding start, breaking immediately, and she extended her lead over Kudermetova with a bizarre, mishit serve that sailed through the air like a lob and suddenly landed perfectly inside of the service box for an ace. Both players were left stunned by the shot, and the Ukrainian could only apologise sheepishly as she went 3-0 up.

After winning a rollercoaster three-setter against Raducanu on Friday, Kostyuk got off to a much better start against Kudermetova. The 22-year-old broke in a lengthy game to lead 2-0, then had to serve to extend her lead.

On game point, Kostyuk hit an unruly serve that flew up into the air and looked like it could be going well outside of the tram lines. But it dropped straight down inside the lines and bounced awkwardly to the side, giving Kudermetova no chance to return it.

Kostyuk and Kudermetova stopped dead in their tracks in disbelief for a few seconds, and the 24th seed quickly held her hands up in apology as she retreated to the bench for the changeover, now leading 3-0.

The Ukrainian star continued rolling through, bagelling Kudermetova and taking the first set 6-0 in just over half an hour.

Kostyuk had raised injury concerns during her opening-round contest with Raducanu. The 22-year-old received a medical time out after winning the first set, having a lengthy chat with the physio before they treated her wrist.

She dropped the second set but stormed back to win 6-4 2-6 6-2 and later explained that she felt something during the warm-up.

“Emma was hitting the ball very hard on the warm-up so I think I just over-stretched it on the body and it just got progressively worse,” she told Sky Sports straight after the match.

“But I don’t think it’s anything bad, it was just a very weird pain. I usually never have problems with my wrist or anything. I’ll probably fix it for the next match but it was weird.”

Kostyuk is already enjoying a career-best run in Madrid, having never made it this far. As one of the seeded players, she received a bye directly into round two, and this is her first time in the third round.

The Ukrainian was forced to withdraw from the recent Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, where she reached the final 12 months ago. Her ranking took a hit as she couldn’t defend her runner-up points.

But Kostyuk seems to be back to her best at the Caja Magica. Kudermetova managed to battle her way into the match and it turned into another tight affair but the Ukrainian survives, winning 6-0 4-6 6-4 to reach the round of 16.