Doubles partners are supposed to be on the same side, and for one uncomfortable moment in Cincinnati, Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns found out just how literally that can go wrong.

In the second round doubles clash at the Cincinnati Open, Kostyuk fired a fast forehand at third seed Hanyu Guo and her partner, Kristina Mladenovic, but it struck Stearns in the head instead of the intended target, allowing their opponents to earn a match point. 

Kostyuk immediately went over to check on Stearns, only for her partner to shove her away instead of acknowledging the concern, which heightened the tension. However, the reactions in the stadium were hilarious, with the crowd bursting into laughter at the accidental collision. 

The American also laughed it off and continued to compete in the match without requiring any medical checkups. With the speed at which it hit her head, everyone in the crowd thought there could be a concussion, but she took a moment and was ready to return the opponent’s serve next. 

The duo refused to back down due to the mishap, and saved a couple of match points to carry the tiebreaker to 9-6 before Guo and Mladenovic finally closed it out. The third seeds now advance to face fifth seeds Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko in the quarter-finals. 

During Kostyuk and Stearns’s first-round win over Serena and Venus Williams, Serena had accidentally struck her own sister while serving, and that was drawn into criticism by people online, suggesting they are not fit to play. In contrast to that, people saw the funny side of the incident here, even when the blow was much more severe, which Stearns absorbed.

A week of wildly different moods for Kostyuk and Stearns

The body language spoke for itself in the two games. After beating the Williams sisters, Kostyuk and Stearns were all smiles, waving to the crowd and soaking in one of the more feel-good results of the tournament. That mood had clearly flipped by the time Stearns was hit in the head. The pair had looked deflated before heading to the tiebreak and lost the match even after winning more points than their opponents. 

“It’s awesome playing with Marta here in my hometown. Maybe next round we can get it a little louder for us, you know,” Stearns said in the on-court post-match interview after the first-round win against the Williams sisters.

“When I was on the court I was like wow what an experience it is to be here. I was watching them growing up and playing together. So it was such a privilege to share the court with them. Sometimes it was so loud today I couldn’t even hear myself. But that’s why we play tennis. So thank you so much guys for bringing the energy. It was incredible,” Kostyuk stated.  

Both singles campaigns tell their own separate stories away from the doubles court, and offer a similar contrast in fortunes. Kostyuk is enjoying her best week of the tournament, reaching the quarter-finals for the first time after a dramatic three-set comeback win over fifth seed Mirra Andreeva, 4-6, 6-0, 6-2, and now moves on to face Coco Gauff. 

Stearns was playing a home tournament and opened with a win over Harriet Dart but faced an exit in the second round by Clara Tauson in a tightly fought three-set match. The American is out of Cincinnati in both categories, along with taking a blow to her head.