Dayana Yastremska wins in straight sets over Linda Noskova to make semifinal

Dayana Yastremska celebrates her quarterfinal victory at the Australian Open

Dayana Yastremska achieved a milestone at the Australian Open on Thursday. The Ukrainian qualifier took out Linda Noskova in the quarterfinal, winning 6-3, 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park. She became the first qualifier since 1978 to make the last four in the grand slam.

The two players entered uncharted territory in their tennis careers by making a grand slam quarterfinal. The Ukrainian played a physical match to defeat Victoria Azarenka on Monday, gripping the second set to clinch her spot. Noskova was given a sudden pass as Elina Svitolina suffered a muscle pull in her back to exit the slam in heartbreak. The Czech’s win against the world number one gave her an edge coming in to the last eight and gave Yastremska a fight to the end.

Yastremska opened service blanking Noskova, scoring two winners from her end of the court. The 19-year-old showed great rhythm on her serve, but the Ukrainian dug in to respond and forced deuce. Noskova forced an error from Yastremska and laid down an ace to even the score. The Czech launched an attack, scoring the break in the third game on a string of errors from the 23-year-old.

Yastremska turned things around with backhanded winners to break back at Noskova, but her offense struggled in the fifth. A double fault opened a pathway for the Czech, but the Ukrainian battled to hold serve while regaining the lead. By the sixth game, the players returned to service holds, including a tough one from the Ukrainian, who committed a second double fault. Noskova added one to her service game in the eighth, opening the door for Yastremska to launch winners and take a 5-3 lead.

Serving for the set, the 23-year-old recovered from a deficit on serve, forcing deuce and bringing up set point. It was a five-shot rally, that ended, with a winner ending 36 minutes of play. Yastremska had 11 winners to Noskova’s four and won more points from the first serve despite two double faults.

The Czech teen began the second, drawing errors from Yastremska on both sides of her racket. Despite committing a double fault, Noskova got out of trouble to hold serve. Yastremska followed suit in the second, followed by Noskova, remaining on serve through three service games. They added another pair, with the 19-year-old maintaining her lead in the set. The Ukrainian leveled the score and broke the Czech in the seventh, inching herself closer to the semifinal.

On serve in the eighth, Yastremska drew errors from Noskova, while staying solid near the baseline and driving the shots to make it 5-3. The teen kept herself in the competition, holding an important ninth game and being in touch with the Ukrainian. Yastremska suffered key errors including a 20-shot rally that landed long. She managed to fight back and get to 30-all and forced an error from Noskova to bring up match point. She got it done on a long ball from the Czech to clinch the win in 1 hour and 19 minutes.

“I think it’s nice to make history because I still wasn’t born when it last happened,” she said. “As the next generation, it’s nice to make history and super happy…and tired.” The 23-year-old will get a day off while awaiting the winner between Anna Kalinskaya and 12th-seeded Qinwen Zheng of China.