Marta Kostyuk dedicated her historic French Open quarter-final win over fellow Ukrainian Elina Svitolina to the people of her homeland, after a heavy Russian attack killed 18 people overnight.
Following the 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 win that made Kostyuk the first Ukrainian woman to reach the semi-finals at Roland Garros, she burst into tears in her post-match interview.
After regaining her composure, Kostyuk said: “I want to start with this historical match that we played today with Elina.
“We had a difficult night again in Ukraine, especially in Kyiv, so many people did, and I want to give this match to the Ukrainian people and to their resilience.”
The match itself was a momentous occasion, two Ukrainians, both ranked inside the world’s top 15 took to a closed-roof Court Philippe-Chatrier as yellow-and-blue flags were dotted around the two tiers of spectators.
On Monday, Russia deployed one of its biggest attacks in the last few months, with two children among the victims of an offensive that involved the use of missiles and drones.
Kostyuk will take on 19-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva in the semi-finals. The win over Svitolina was her 17th successive victory in what has been a remarkable clay-court season.
All those left in the women’s singles come from Eastern Europe, with Anna Kalinskaya, Andreeva, Diana Shnaider and world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka all coming from either Russia or Belarus. None have criticised the Russian government.
When asked about playing against Ukrainian players, both Andreeva and Shnaider have said they are playing the ball coming at them not the opponent.
For Kostyuk, it is not as simple as that: “They are all grown-ups. They know what they’re talking about. They know what’s going on. They have phones. They have Instagram. They have news. They are clearly aware of what’s going on.”
She added: “Obviously not much I can do about it. I wish there was some more clear stance on what’s going on, especially when your country is killing other people. I don’t know how you can sleep at night peacefully when you know that this is going on, and you have nothing to say about it.”
Tennis may offer an escape, but the reality of life in Ukraine is never far from the minds of those representing their nation on the global stage. It was only a week ago that Kostyuk was in tears after a match on the day that Russian missiles narrowly missed her parents’ home where her mother, sister and great-aunt were sleeping.
Svitolina has been a trailblazer when it comes to Ukraine, whether by using her platform to raise awareness, financing junior tournaments out of her own pocket, or dedicating her first Rome Masters 1000 win since 2018 to her homeland.
The world No 7 is not only an ambassador for United24, the fundraising programme of Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, but also her own charitable foundation that works to introduce Ukrainian children to sport and tennis, encouraging them to take part in sport to improve their mental health.
“I want to point out Elina, her incredible impact on Ukrainian tennis, on Ukrainians and on me, and everyone who is watching,” Kostyuk said. “She’s an unbelievable fighter and I’m so happy to be through to the semi-finals but I want to thank her again for this incredible match.”
Kostyuk is no different, signing off her on-court interview with a plea to those in Philippe-Chatrier to donate to her or Svitolina’s charitable foundations supporting sport and tennis in Ukraine.
While others might tire of hearing about this reality, for Kostyuk and her family, who lived without electricity for two to three days in -20 degrees during one of the winters since war broke out in 2022, it is inescapable.
On the match against Svitolina, she said: “I checked the news and everyone who was congratulating me, there were a lot of people watching.
“I think it was [an] important match for Ukraine. Obviously I wish this match was in the final, but we have what we have.”