Marta Kostyuk does not want to follow Aryna Sabalenka and Naomi Osaka by playing a night session match at Roland Garros.
Sabalenka and Osaka are playing in the night session on Court Philippe-Chatrier at Roland Garros, which is the first women’s match to be placed in the night session since 2023.
Many tennis fans and players including Elina Svitolina have been supportive of this decision, as she called it an ‘important step for women’s tennis’.
However, Svitolina’s compatriot Kostyuk is less of a fan of this idea when asked if she would want to play in the night session herself.
Marta Kostyuk claims playing night sessions is the ‘worst thing’
Kostyuk stunned Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros to reach her second Grand Slam quarterfinal, extending her unbeaten streak on clay this year to 15 matches.
After achieving her best ever result at Roland Garros, Kostyuk spoke to TNT Sports, where she was told about the announcement that Sabalenka would play Osaka in the upcoming night session.
Kostyuk was then asked if she would want to be involved in night sessions in the future, as she responded by stating that was definitely not something she would want to do.
“Never, never, never!” said Kostyuk. “I think this is the worst thing for athletes’ bodies to play night session and I’m very happy we play early.
“I’ve been asking to play first since the beginning of the tournament, I love to play early. Yeah, I would keep it for the boys, they can have it.”
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Since night sessions were introduced at Roland Garros in 2021, only four women’s matches had been placed in the first 60.
Sabalenka and Osaka will play in the fifth ever women’s night session at Roland Garros, which will take place on Monday, June 1.
Marta Kostyuk vs Elina Svitolina Head-to-Head
Kostyuk will now look to continue her impressive clay court season by reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal at Roland Garros.
Standing in the way of Kostyuk achieving this is her compatriot and Italian Open champion Elina Svitolina, who is on a 10-match winning streak of her own.
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This will be the third meeting between the two Ukrainians, with Kostyuk and Svitolina’s head-to-head currently at one win apiece.
Both of these previous matches have taken place on hard courts, with Kostyuk winning their most recent encounter at the 2024 Canadian Open.
| Year | Tournament | Result |
| 2018 | Australian Open (R32) | Svitolina beat Kostyuk, 6-2 6-2 |
| 2024 | Canadian Open (R32) | Kostyuk beat Svitolina, 6-2 2-6 6-2 |
While there is nothing to separate the two players in terms of head-to-head, what is confirmed is that a Ukrainian player will be in the semifinal of Roland Garros.
Svitolina has reached four previous Grand Slam semifinals, but she has never done so at Roland Garros before, having lost her five previous quarterfinals.
