Kostyuk through to third round as Badosa retires with injury

LONDON: Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk reached the Wimbledon third round for the first time after her Spanish opponent Paula Badosa retired with an injury during their match on Friday.

The 21-year-old Kostyuk was leading 6-2 1-0 when Badosa pulled out with a back problem.

Badosa, the 25-year-old girlfriend of Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas who will renew his battle with Andy Murray later on Friday, missed the French Open due to a spinal stress fracture.

Badosa was scheduled to play with Tsitsipas in the mixed doubles but she has pulled out of the tournament saying the “smartest thing” to do was to stop playing.

“The injury is the same as I have been struggling the past weeks. It’s the stress fracture,” Badosa told reporters.

Kostyuk defeated eighth seed Maria Sakkari in the first round and will hope to continue her run against 25th seed Madison Keys.