Ukraine captain Mikhail Filima has compared the 15-year-old debutant he's tasked with leading their Fed Cup singles charge to Martina Hingis, and Australian skipper Alicia Molik agrees.
Marta Kostyuk arrived on the world stage at the Australian Open last month when she became the youngest player to reach the third round in Melbourne since former world No. 1 Hingis in 1996.
The teenage sensation is the youngest player to reach the round of 32 at any grand slam since Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in 1997 and the youngest player ranked inside the top 200 in almost a decade.
At world No. 185, Kostyuk is the highest ranked player in an undermanned Ukraine team, which will start underdogs at the World Group II tie in Canberra this weekend.
Ukraine are without their two best players in world No. 3 Elina Svitolina and veteran Lesia Tsurenko due to scheduling, but Filima believes Kostyuk has the talent to cause an upset.
"Marta's results in Australia have been unbelievable, last year she won the Australian open juniors and this year made the third round and won a tournament [in Tasmania] last week," Filima said.
"She reminds me of Martina Hingis but the tennis is different to 10 years ago, a lot of players can play until they're 35 or 37, but I think she can go very high [in the rankings] and has a very bright future.
"Marta is a young player but she's played some very good tennis, especially on the grass court, and I think she will have some surprises for the Australian team."
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Molik agreed and pointed to the last Fed Cup tie in Canberra when Jelena Dokic led Australia to victory against Argentina as a 15-year-old on debut at the AIS Arena in 1998.
"She really impresses me, Kostyuk, she's a young girl but plays a really mature game and has come onto the scene quite quickly," Molik said.
"She qualified for the Australian Open which takes a lot of maturity and there is no question that she'll be one of their best players over the weekend.
"If she plays really well she could create a bit of difficulty for us, but that's the beauty of Fed Cup, so many players bring their best tennis because they rise to the occasion to represent their country.
"Players are so good at lifting themselves into extra gears and I have no doubt she may be able to do that, but I haven't seen her under the pressure of playing for her nation yet, so time will tell."
Australia carry the favourites tag into the tie with world No. 16 Barty and No. 25 Daria Gavrilova to spearhead the singles attack, while doubles specialist Casey Dellacqua will be injected on Sunday.
"Our players are ranked where they are for a reason, Ash and Dash [Gavrilova] both won WTA titles last year, Ash finished top 20 in the world and Casey also won a WTA title last year," Molik said.
"Being almost at full strength, we haven't had a team ranked quite like we do in a very long time… it's great to have that depth.
"I wish we could have played them at full strength because I think we're good enough to beat them at full strength, but it's now just a matter of getting the job done on the weekend."
Ukraine have won three of the four meetings between the nations, with Australia's only triumph coming in 2010, and Molik said her players must take the chance in front of them.
"It's a huge opportunity for us because they've got us the last few times, so it's time we got revenge," Molik said.
FED CUP
Saturday and Sunday 11am: Australia v Ukraine at the Canberra Tennis Centre. Tickets from Ticketek. Day passes: $45.85 (adults), $36.65 (concession), $15.30 (children) and $106.90 (family). Weekend passes: $80 (adults), $63 (concession), $25 (children) and $186 (family).
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SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
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