Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk opened her campaign at US Open 2026 in the doubles draw with a convincing victory. Together with Romania's Elena-Gabriela Ruse, she got through the opening round of the American major without dropping a single set. This is reported by Sport RBC.UA, citing the match result. In the first round, the Kostyuk/Ruse team defeated the pair of Panna Udvardy (Hungary) / Laura Pigossi (Brazil) 6-3, 6-4, spending 1 hour and 12 minutes on court.
Match progression: the decisive break and a quick recovery
The first set was dictated by the Ukrainian-Romanian team: the decisive moment was the only break, converted in the sixth game, after which Kostyuk and Ruse sealed the set. In the second set, the pattern of play changed — first, Kostyuk and Ruse lost their own serve, but they quickly regained balance and turned the set around, taking a decisive point on the opponent's serve in the seventh game. It was precisely this combination of defensive effort and counterattack that allowed the pair to close out the match in their favor without losing a single set.
The team's fourth season and ambitions for the third round
Kostyuk and Ruse are playing together at the American major for the fourth consecutive season, which makes them one of the most stable Ukrainian-Romanian duos in the doubles tour. The pair's best result at US Open remains reaching the third round, which they achieved in 2023 and 2025. Thus, the current 2026 campaign once again sets the task for the team not merely to get through the first round, but to repeat their personal tournament record and break into the doubles top 16. More details about the tournament's start and the participants' lineup can be found in Sport RBC.UA materials (sport.rbc.ua).
Second round: a possible meeting with a Ukrainian
Kostyuk and Ruse's opponents in the second round will be determined by the result of the match Daria Snigur (Ukraine) / Ganne Vandewynkelle (Belgium) — Elise Mertens (Belgium) / Diana Schneider. This means that, depending on the results, a Ukrainian may face a compatriot as early as the second round, which will add a national dimension to the match and increase attention to the doubles draw at the tournament.
Ukrainian presence in the US Open 2026 doubles draw
Seven Ukrainian tennis players will take part in the doubles draw of the 2026 US Open, forming six different teams. In addition to Marta Kostyuk, the court will see Oleksandra Oлейnikova, Angelina Kalinina, Daria Snigur, the Kichenok sisters Lyudmyla and Nadiia, as well as Yulia Starodubtseva. Such a concentration of Ukrainian pairs indicates that the doubles draw remains one of the key directions for the national team at the season's last major.
