Marta Kostyuk became the first Ukrainian woman to reach the singles semi-finals at Roland Garros after defeating compatriot and friend Elina Svitolina 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) on Court Philippe-Chatrier, then dedicated the victory to a country still fighting Russia’s invasion now into its fifth year.
The 23-year-old from Kyiv broke Svitolina’s serve three times across the two-hour, four-minute quarter-final, holding firm in a tense second-set tie-break after the 31-year-old veteran clawed back from 5-2 down. When Svitolina’s final forehand drifted long, Kostyuk dropped her racquet, looked skyward and turned to embrace her opponent at the net before pointing to the blue-and-yellow ribbon pinned to her cap.
“I want to give this match to Ukraine,” Kostyuk said in her on-court interview, voice cracking. “Elina and I, we play for the same flag. Whatever happens here, our people are watching from places where there is no electricity, no safety. This is for them.”
A meeting neither player wanted
Kostyuk and Svitolina have been the public faces of Ukrainian tennis since February 2022, raising funds, refusing handshakes with Russian and Belarusian opponents, and speaking out at every major. Drawing each other in the last eight was the outcome both had quietly dreaded.
The match itself was uneven in tone but high in quality. Kostyuk, seeded 12th, took an early break at 2-1 in the opener, dictating from the baseline with the heavier ball and pinning Svitolina behind the service line. The world number 19 served at 67% first-serve in and dropped only nine points behind it across the first set.
Svitolina, twice a Roland Garros quarter-finalist before this run and a semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 2023, responded with the variety that has carried her career — slice, drop shot, redirection. She broke back for 3-3 in the second and held two set points at 5-4 on Kostyuk’s serve, both saved with first serves down the T.
In the breaker Kostyuk raced to 5-2 with two clean backhand winners down the line. Svitolina hauled it back to 5-5 before a Kostyuk forehand return clipped the line for 6-5, and the younger Ukrainian closed it out two points later. The two embraced for several seconds at the net, Svitolina whispering into Kostyuk’s ear.
Breaking a barrier her country has waited for
Kostyuk’s run makes her the first Ukrainian woman to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam since Svitolina herself at Wimbledon two years ago, and the first ever to do so at Roland Garros. Ukrainian players have reached three major quarter-finals this season alone — a remarkable haul for a nation whose domestic tennis infrastructure has been hollowed out by war.
The numbers tell part of that story. Of the 38 indoor tennis facilities operational in Ukraine before February 2022, fewer than half remain usable. Junior tournaments have been relocated abroad or cancelled outright. Kostyuk herself has not played a competitive match on home soil in more than four years and trains primarily out of Monte Carlo.
“People don’t see what it takes to walk on this court,” she said. “You wake up, you check your phone, you see which city was hit overnight. Then you go and try to hit a tennis ball. Elina has done this longer than anyone. She made it possible for girls like me to believe.”
Svitolina, who has a two-year-old daughter with French player Gael Monfils, was gracious in defeat. “Marta deserved it today,” she said. “She was the better player. And whatever happens on Thursday, a Ukrainian woman is in the semi-finals of Roland Garros. That matters.”
What comes next
Kostyuk will face the winner of Wednesday’s quarter-final between world number two Coco Gauff and Italian 14th seed Jasmine Paolini, a rematch of last year’s final. Either represents a formidable obstacle, but Kostyuk arrives in form: she has dropped just one set across five matches and beaten three top-20 opponents en route.
The wider implications stretch beyond Paris. Key takeaways from the quarter-final:
- Kostyuk climbs to a projected career-high ranking of world number eight regardless of her semi-final result
- She is guaranteed prize money of €780,000, a portion of which she has previously pledged to United24, Ukraine’s state-run humanitarian fund
- Should she reach the final, she would become only the third Ukrainian — after Andriy Medvedev (1999) and Svitolina herself in 2023 mixed doubles — to contest a singles or doubles championship match at Roland Garros
“I’m not thinking about the semi-final yet,” Kostyuk said as she left the court. “Tonight I will call my mother. Tomorrow I will work. That is all.”
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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