Marta Kostyuk believes her breakthrough run at the French Open and her determination to speak out about Russia’s war in Ukraine successfully served as a reminder, to people who may have forgotten, about the horrors unfolding in her home country as she suffered a heavy loss to highest ranked Russian player, Mirra Andreeva, in the semi-finals.
“Yeah, for sure,” Kostyuk said. “I will never forget the ovations I received after my match [against fellow Ukrainian Elina Svitolina] in the quarter-finals. This is something I will carry with me forever. I will never believe anyone who is at the world stage of this sport saying they have zero influence or anything, because I experienced this myself.”
Andreeva took a significant step towards fulfilling her boundless talent as she produced a composed and mature performance to dismantle an erratic Kostyuk 6-1, 6-3 and reach her first grand slam final. Her victory makes her the fourth-youngest French Open finalist in the past 30 years, behind only Martina Hingis, Kim Clijsters and Coco Gauff.
Still only 19, Andreeva has been competing at the highest level since she was 15 and it has taken some time for the Russian to manage her temper, emotions and the pressure that accompanies her massive ambition. Finally, it appears she is ready to step forward and stake her claim for the biggest titles. “I have been trying to work on me being more calm, more positive,” she said. “I’m very focused, and I felt like recently I have been trying to do a lot of different stuff. Maybe now I have found what’s been working very well for me.”
Russia’s war in Ukraine has been in focus throughout this event. Kostyuk’s tournament started 11 days ago as she woke up to the news that a Russian missile had landed about 100m from her family home in Ukraine, where her mother, sister and great aunt were staying, on the morning of her first round match. After the best grand slam showing of her career, her tournament ended at the hands of one of her most prominent Russian rivals.
Although not as forcefully as her compatriot Oleksandra Oliynykova, who insisted that the eventual semi-finalist Diana Shnaider should be sanctioned for competing in a St Petersburg exhibition backed by Gazprom, an act she compared to a player competing in Nazi Germany, Kostyuk had made her opinions on her opponent clear before the match: “I wish there was some more clear stance on what’s going on, especially when your country is killing other people,” said Kostyuk. “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.”
Still, the strength of both countries on the WTA tour also means that Ukrainian and Russian players have long grown accustomed to facing each other over the past four years. Before the match, they posed separately for photos with the two child mascots on court for the coin toss and Kostyuk opted not to shake Andreeva’s hand after the match. As she came to terms with a potentially career-defining victory, Andreeva even slowed her walk towards the net after the match to ensure that the two players did not arrive there at the same time.
This is the second significant meeting between the two players in this clay court season, with Kostyuk defeating Andreeva in the Madrid Open final. The most awkward moment of these two encounters was likely to be the trophy ceremony, where both players stood on-stage at the same time, but they navigated the situation without issue.
Afterwards, Kostyuk opted not to criticise the prospect of a Russian player in the final or a potential all-Russian final against Shnaider, whose semi-final match against Maja Chwalinska had not finished at the time. “As I said before, I don’t care who is at the other side of the net,” she said. “I just go out and play the match.”
Otherwise, this was business as usual as the pair desperately tried to take advantage of the biggest opportunities of both of their careers. Despite arriving in the final on a 17-match winning streak and with a 2-0 record against Andreeva, under the glare of grand slam pressure she simply could find her level as Andreeva drew on the experience she has gained over her past few years on the tour and used it to take her career to new heights.
