By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday July 5, 2023
The 21-year-old went from tears of anguish to elation on Day 3 at Wimbledon.
Photo Source: TTV
After dropping the opening set against No.8-seeded Maria Sakkari 6-0, and then enduring a pair of rain delays during her first round match on Wednesday at Wimbledon, Marta Kostyuk was reeling emotionally.
But the 21-year-old found a way to cope, regrouped and surged past Sakkari for one of the most impressive wins of her career, 0-6 7-5 6-2.
The triumph marks the 21-year-old Ukrainian’s first ever Top-10 win at a major, on her fifteenth try. She was well aware of the situation, and explained her relief during a long post-match press conference.
“This one means a lot, because it was my 15th attempt to beat a top-10 player,” the World No.36 said. Yeah, that was, I had to do a check on my list. Very happy that that pressure is off my shoulders.”
Tears of Anguish Lead to Gratifying Joy
Kostyuk admitted to breaking down in tears during both rain delays, and explained how she was able to gradually find her bearings and get into the match against the Greek.
“ I was so emotional I couldn't do anything about it,” she said. “So I had a really good cry both times, that helped, because I was also desperate in a certain way, because I'm playing good but I don't know why is it going so bad, you know.”
The Kiev native added that it likely helped her that at a certain point she became resigned to losing.
“I think that helped because I kind of like released it, and I feel like I accepted, in the second rain break I accepted that I lost the match already,” she said. “It turned out that it's not the worst thing in the world to happen to me, even though if I would lose today, my world is not going to be destroyed.
“That helped, because I kind of, you know, I let it go and I just tried to play point by point.”
How the War in Ukraine Changed Kostyuk
Kostyuk, still only 21, has been on tour for a long time. Five years ago, she reached the third round at the Australian Open from qualifying, showing her promise at a mere 16 years of age. In 2021, she defeated Garbine Muguruza en route to her round of 16 at a major, at Roland-Garros.
Two years on from that breakthrough, Kostyuk is on a whole different mental plane. Like most of her compatriots, her personal life has been thrown into a state of upheaval by Russia’s brutal invasion of her homeland.
As horrible as the turn of events has been since February of 2022, when the war began, she has been resilient, trying to take the positives when she can.
“I think the whole situation, the invasion in Ukraine, it helped me to reconsider a lot of things in my life. I look at a lot of things differently,” she said.
“Of course tennis is my job, and this is where I try to succeed. So sometimes the idea of what tennis is for me outweighs the actual tennis, you know, like the actual thing. So it makes me believe that this is the biggest thing in the world, I have to win it.
“What can I say is that all these events and all these things, they help me grow, they help me become stronger. It's just I try to take the most out of a bad situation. I'm just feel very bad for all the people who are struggling. You know, they have no choice and they are dying.”
Kostyuk, who has been to the second round in each of her last three Wimbledon appearances, will face Spain’s Paula Badosa for a spot in the round of 32 on Friday.