Who is Yulia Starodubtseva, and How did she almost defeat Coco Gauff?

At the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing, the finalists have already been determined: Coco Gauff will compete for the title against Karolina Muchova.

Although the competition is still ongoing, one thing is clear: the standout sensation of this tournament is Yuliia Starodubtseva.

Yes, we could mention Zhang Shuai, who, after suffering a record-breaking 24 consecutive defeats, managed to win four matches in a row in Beijing, including a victory over Emma Navarro. However, Zhang is well-known, at least for her achievements in doubles, so tennis fans are certainly familiar with the 35-year-old's name.

Starodubtseva, on the other hand, began her journey in the Chinese capital from the qualifiers, where she defeated Carol Zhang and Chang Su-jeong. The 23-year-old Ukrainian was the clear favorite in those matches, and it's no surprise that the scores were dominant: 6-2, 6-2, and 6-0, 6-2, respectively.

In the main draw, Yuliia claimed four more victories: over Laura Siegemund, Katerina Siniakova, Elina Avanesyan, and Anna Kalinskaya. Honestly, if you had to blindly pick a favorite, Yuliia might not have been your first choice. However, the Ukrainian's progress was only a matter of time…

Starodubtseva was born in Kakhovka in 2000, the same hometown as another Ukrainian tennis player, Angelina Kalinina. Interestingly, Yuliia's first coach was Angelina’s grandmother, Tatyana. From the age of 10, Starodubtseva consistently performed on the national stage, achieving solid results. But we all know tennis is a sport heavily dependent on finances, and this was a challenge for Starodubtseva’s family.

In 2017, after winning the Ukrainian Women’s Championship, Starodubtseva went to the United States for university, where she spent the next five years. She played for the Old Dominion University team in Virginia, where she consistently defeated top college tennis players, accumulated a 17-match winning streak, and helped her team win the NCAA championship.

But college tennis is far from the professional level. After graduation, Yuliia decided to return to pro tennis, but the financial issues remained. In late January 2023, she entered a tournament in Rome, Georgia, with a zero ranking. She had to compete in wild card events just to enter the qualifiers, and funds to kickstart her journey were raised through crowdfunding—$20,000. Her breakthrough came at the next ITF W25 event in Spring, Texas, where she won her first title!

And from there, things took off. Last season, Yuliia claimed four singles and four doubles titles at the ITF level. With these points, Starodubtseva debuted in the Grand Slam qualification rounds at the US Open. However, she lost to Celine Naef in the opening round, meaning her dreams of reaching the Grand Slam main draw were postponed—though not for long.

It’s interesting that in 2023, Starodubtseva only played on hard courts or green clay. That’s understandable, as she didn’t travel outside the U.S. Her debut on clay came before the US Open at a $25K tournament in the Dominican Republic, but she lost in the first round.

In the fall of 2023, Starodubtseva finally completed the necessary paperwork and traveled to the WTA 125 tournament in Colina, Chile, where she reached the quarterfinals. That marked the end of her season. Yuliia told Ukrainian media that she didn’t plan to play the European clay season in 2024 and claimed to have a “rocky relationship” with clay. But here, Starodubtseva was wrong.

At the 2024 Australian Open, Yuliia entered the qualifiers and successfully made it through, marking her debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam. Although she was outplayed by Ons Jabeur in the first round, Starodubtseva had already achieved her primary goal. Reaching the main draw earned her 40 ranking points and $79,367! Life was looking up.

In 2024, Starodubtseva ventured to Europe for the clay season, competed on grass, and participated in the American summer hard court series. Remarkably, she qualified for all four Grand Slam tournaments—a unique achievement requiring consistent form throughout the season. Although she only managed to win one main draw match at Wimbledon, her performances continued to show clear improvement.

Starodubtseva then headed to a WTA 250 event in Monastir, where she reached her first WTA quarterfinal. In Tunisia, she lost to Sonay Kartal, who would go on to win the tournament. It later emerged that Starodubtseva had been playing with a thigh injury.

And then came Beijing. In addition to victories in the qualifiers and main draw, she also took a set from the world No. 6, Coco Gauff. In the first set, the American was clearly off her game, while Starodubtseva demolished her with powerful forehands. But fatigue caught up with Yuliia, her serve faltered, and Gauff found her rhythm. Given the physical toll of the match, Starodubtseva was incredibly close to causing a major upset.

Starting Monday, Yuliia will debut in the WTA top 80. In just 1.5 seasons, Starodubtseva has gone from an unranked player to someone the tennis world must take seriously. And she clearly isn’t stopping here. After all, she sacrificed her junior career to spend five years studying.

Currently, the Ukrainian is competing at the WTA 1000 event in Wuhan, where she has already defeated Laura Siegemund. Whether fatigue will prevent her from repeating last week's success remains to be seen, but her level of play is undoubtedly impressive. Amid the dips in form from Elina Svitolina, Marta Kostyuk, and Dayana Yastremska, Yuliia Starodubtseva has emerged as Ukraine's brightest hope on the global tennis stage!