Marta Kostyuk is a quarter-finalist at Roland Garros, having beaten Iga Swiatek earlier today in straight sets.
It was a comprehensive victory for the Ukrainian, who remains the only player yet to have lost a match on this surface in 2026.
To discount her as anything other than a challenger for this title, particularly after this latest victory, seems ridiculous. She is well and truly a favourite.
She spoke with incredible emotion afterwards whilst still on court, reinforcing her love for tennis after such a crucial win.
Marta Kostyuk reacts after beating Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros
Chatting on court, the 23-year-old was asked just what she has done to enjoy such a prolific clay-court campaign thus far.
After all, as the Madrid Open champion, she remains undefeated on the surface this year.
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Marta Kostyuk would reveal her secret: “Yeah, I don’t know, I feel like I’ve given myself more space to just create something, you know, to challenge my opponents, and I think the most important thing that I’ve been doing, this whole time, is really trying to enjoy.
“You know, I woke up today in the morning and all I thought about, what an unbelievable day I have to live today and play on Chatrier and play against Iga, and you know, there is nothing else I would rather do today than this.”
Then, expanding on how she plans to maintain this mindset, she added: “Well, for sure, you know, it’s helping.
“I want to keep enjoying, you know, I try not to focus at all on winning or losing, because, you know, I’m not playing tennis to win, I’m playing tennis because I love it, and because, you know, I want to connect to people, I want to feel this energy coming to the court and, you know, make people happy and unite people.”
Elsewhere, Mirra Andreeva admits she’s taken a different strategy to Swiatek at Roland Garros this year. Thus far, it appears to be working.
Chris Evert admits she was wrong about Iga Swiatek
Speaking live on that TNT Sports broadcast, Chris Evert was taken aback by just how spectacularly Iga Swiatek seemed to implode in that second set.
After all, whilst Kostyuk was playing well, the four-time champion here in Paris was gifting her opportunities to take and maintain her lead.
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The American tennis legend therefore explained how she perhaps expected too much from the 24-year-old too soon after Swiatek had hired Francisco Roig as her new coach.
Evert admitted: “I guess it was a little too early to think that her game would change that drastically. It was only a few weeks.
“Back to the drawing board and trying to figure out her game style, you know, how’s she gonna play? Keep it simple.”
