By Shrivathsa Sridhar and Julien Pretot
PARIS, May 24 (Reuters) – Hours after a Russian missile slammed near her family home in Kyiv, Marta Kostyuk walked onto the French Open clay on Sunday with photos of the blast fresh in her mind: shattered buildings metres from where her mother and sister had spent the night.
The 23-year-old, who advanced to the second round at Roland Garros, said she was overwhelmed with anxiety after receiving pictures of the damage close to the house where her mother, sister and aunt were staying.
“I felt sick just for the thought that if it was 100 metres closer, I probably wouldn’t have a mum and a sister today,” Kostyuk told reporters after beating Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-2 6-3.
“Tennis is a mental game, but today it was something completely different. I didn’t know how my focus was going to be or if I would even be able to control my thoughts.”
Kostyuk said the strike came during a night of attacks that lasted several hours and left people exhausted and shaken.
Kyiv and surrounding areas were hit with hundreds of drones and missiles in one of the heaviest bombardments of the Ukrainian capital since Russia’s invasion four years ago.
“It was really difficult to process it so quickly and then go out and play,” said Kostyuk. “That’s why I’m happy I played the first match of the day. I don’t know what the outcome would have been if I had played later.”
EMOTIONAL STRAIN
Despite the emotional strain, Kostyuk produced an assured display to move into the next round and even found the composure to attempt an underarm serve during the second set.
“When I have space in the match, I love to do it. It always surprises players,” she said with a smile.
Kostyuk said withdrawing from the tournament never crossed her mind because her family had survived unharmed.
“Everyone is alive. Everything is good,” she said. “If something worse had happened, of course it would have been much more difficult, but today I knew I had to go out and play.”
The Ukrainian said the latest attack ranked among the hardest moments she had endured since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022.
“The beginning of the war was probably the most difficult because of the unknown,” she said. “But this was the closest it has ever been to my house. That’s what makes it so emotional. This was definitely one of the top three worst ones.”
Kostyuk also suggested that support for Ukraine on the tennis circuit had faded as the war dragged on into its fifth year.
“At the start we had fundraisers and a lot of support. I think people on the tour have adapted and moved on,” she said.
“But I still use my platform whenever I can to remind people of the horror of everyday life in Ukraine. People forget, people adapt, but for us it’s still reality every single day.”
The 15th seed’s opponent Selekhmeteva was born in Russia but switched allegiance to Spain ahead of Roland Garros.
Kostyuk faces Katie Volynets of the U.S. next.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Paris; Editing by Ken Ferris and Andrew Cawthorne)
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