Marta Kostyuk — SF Press Conference — Roland-Garros 2026

[0:09] Marta, bad luck today, but you've had a great Roland Garros and you've achieved your best [0:14] result here so far. What are the things that you're taking with you from this year? [0:20] For sure, my streak. I take it with me to the grave. [0:25] Yeah, very happy with my clay court season. Just one loss. I mean, I would never believe [0:31] if someone told me this a couple of months ago. Yeah, very happy. [0:37] Take questions, please. Obviously, this match meant a lot to you because you want to give [0:46] so much to the people back in Ukraine. Did you maybe put yourself under too much pressure [0:53] before the game because you didn't look quite at your best today? Were you struggling a bit [0:58] with the pressure? For me, usually, when I go on court, I don't feel nervous. I don't feel [1:05] pressure really. Maybe before the match, obviously, everyone feels more nervous. I would say [1:10] I, as I said before, I don't care who's on the other side of the net. I just go out and play the [1:17] match. You know, everything that could go her way went her way. Everything that could not go my way [1:24] didn't go my way. So, you know, it's just the type of day I take it. You know, I had enough tough days, [1:33] these bad days to know that they end. It's not the worst thing in the world to lose a match, [1:39] wherever the stage is. First time playing semi-finals, you know, obviously have that experience. So, [1:45] next time when I'm in semi-finals, maybe I'm going to feel better, different. I don't know. But [1:50] obviously not the greatest match from me today. But I don't think about it that much. [2:00] Amata, you played Mira a few times. You'd won all the sets. Did her level surprise you at all? [2:09] Did she play significantly better than she had in the other matches you played? [2:14] I think that this court suits her best of all the tournaments that exist. And I never played her [2:20] here. So obviously seeing her record since she's been 15 or 16 years old, you know, playing here, [2:26] I saw at the screen that her record here is 16-3. I came into this tournament being like 4-7, you know, [2:33] so like clearly not my best court. You know, it really suits her game. The wind helped a lot today. [2:42] I didn't start the best, but you know, it happens. I mean, everyone wins, everyone loses. It's, [2:50] it's part of the game. It's at the end of the day, it's just the game. Yeah, she played good today. She [2:55] played solid. She wasn't missing. You know, I was missing more, obviously felt pressure. She was serving [3:03] much better today. I couldn't do a lot because the court is crazy slow and she was retrieving all the [3:10] balls. So I felt like I had to go for more. Obviously that was, you know, that's what was making me make [3:17] more mistakes and that's it. Well done. Great tournament and clay court season. I just wondered [3:25] how you would feel on Saturday as a Ukrainian, if it is an all Russian final? I don't care. I mean, [3:33] I don't care. I wanted to come full circle. I asked you before the tournament, if you thought the tour [3:46] had forgotten about the war in Ukraine and you quite movingly said, you got used to the idea that [3:51] people had forgotten. Do you think given how well you and a lot of the other Ukrainian players have [3:55] done in this tournament have helped people to remember, to re-remember? Yeah, for sure. I mean, [4:01] I will never forget the ovations that I received after my matching quarterfinals. This is something I will [4:08] carry with me forever. And I will never believe anyone who is at the world stage of this sport [4:15] saying that they have zero influence or anything, because I experienced this myself. And [4:22] yeah, if you want to, you can do anything. And this was a proof for me. And probably, I mean, [4:29] I obviously am very happy that I made it to the semifinals, but I feel like this is the highlight of [4:34] my tournament. Hello, Martin. You are now a WTL 1000 winner, Grand Slam semifinalist. You'll be, [4:44] I guess, number 12 in the world on Monday. Do you think you belong there now? [4:50] Well, if I'm there, probably I belong. I don't know. I think in tennis is one thing to get somewhere. [4:56] The other thing is to stay there. And my goal is to, you know, to be a consistent player and to not get [5:04] injured because it's also very difficult to stay healthy and, you know, just keep growing, keep [5:11] becoming better player, better person. And that's it. If my ranking is going to be better, it means I, [5:17] I deserve it. I made it there. I don't know. Again, it's one thing to make it to somewhere. [5:25] The other thing is to really stay there for a long time. Hey, Martha, you mentioned your streak. [5:32] I wonder if it changes something about your own perception of yourself going on such a streak, [5:38] winning so much in so many different levels, so many different kinds of players, including Iga here. [5:43] Is it something that changes the way you see yourself as a player? [5:47] I think so. I mean, I would want to believe it because it's a big success for me. And [5:54] I think not just for me, but if you take any player, it's a great result. And [6:01] for sure, I'm, I think what I'm most happy with is that I first changed and then this streak came, [6:09] not that the streak came and then I changed. So I already enjoyed playing and I enjoyed, [6:16] you know, being at tournaments before the streak began and now not having the streak anymore. You [6:22] know, I'm the same. I still enjoy being here, going next week to Queens, going to Wimbledon, [6:27] you know, and just keep trying to, you know, play tennis and, and bring on a show and, and that's it. [6:35] Hey, Martha, well played, great, great tournament. I'm just curious, [6:40] then what, what was the key to finding enjoyment in your tennis and then just being on tour and being [6:45] a pro tennis player? A lot of therapy. [6:50] Yeah. I, I mean, I think I, uh, when the full-scale war started, I realized that I need to change my [6:56] perspective on life because it's clearly not just tennis. There is a lot of other things that's [7:01] happening. And then this long process began and it's been over four years now. And I feel like the [7:08] most important thing for me was that I, I had an intention of what kind of career I want to have, [7:16] what kind of player and person I want to be. And I slowly moved towards the direction that I set myself [7:23] and I'm arriving there where I want to be and how I want to be. And I told, you know, I told Sandra before [7:33] the tournament, I said, honestly, the battles that I've won against myself and in my head, [7:40] you know, grand slams is nothing comparing to it, nothing, you know, and I, I think to myself, [7:46] you know, I, I went through this, such an incredible journey of becoming a different player, different [7:52] person. And really it's playing tennis is very easy. It's really easy. And, um, it's, I think it's just [8:01] great to feel this way and to keep living this life, you know, I don't know how long [8:06] before I'm going to be still here and playing tennis. So, um, I try to enjoy it to the fullest. [8:13] Hey, Morna, I was just wondering, do you and Sandra have discussions about what to do if you come on the [8:22] court and you're not feeling the ball, you're not having your best day like you were having today? Is [8:26] there like a plan B and what are some of those things you can, you, you try if it's, if it's not [8:32] one of those really great day? Good question. I think we have like five plans always, but sometimes, [8:38] I mean, I can have really bad day and my opponent can have a very good day. So even if you have 10 [8:44] plans, it's not gonna like, just, it's not gonna work. Uh, but yeah, for sure. We always have different [8:50] plans. And, uh, I also prepare mentally always if things don't go my way, I'm pretty okay when things [8:58] don't go my way. Like I just try to find a way and that's it and, uh, try to do my best. [9:04] You said the, the, the, the invasion of Ukraine changed your perspective. Um, do you remember what [9:10] you were like before that? Were you two wrapped up in tennis? Uh, I thought about it because I don't [9:18] really remember a lot of things, but I remember I was very intense, very, um, I was a control freak [9:28] and yeah, I was, I was very traumatized. I, I mean, I'm not gonna like hide it or whatever. I don't [9:35] think you can make it big in tennis if you are like not a little bit crazy. Um, so I, I mean, I, I was [9:42] like this, but then I just, I just didn't like it. I didn't like to be with myself. So clearly there [9:47] were things that, you know, I was not, I was not a happy person. I was, yeah, I was very, again, [9:56] I think that the control was the worst of it all. And it's very common thing for people. It's not like [10:04] I'm some, some different, you know, from, from everyone. And, um, what else? Yeah, I don't know. [10:13] I think, I think this is the biggest things that I can remember. Hi, Marta. Uh, when they closed the [10:21] roof today, did you feel at some point that you could turn the match around? Because that's the [10:25] only moment in the match where Mira got a little bit tense. She double faulted and then you won the [10:29] game and you came back to 4-3. Well, I feel, I felt throughout the whole match that I'm not that [10:35] far to turn the match around. We had very, a lot of close games and it was not like just going one way [10:42] very quickly. You know, I tried to put a fight every time, every game, every point. Um, yeah, I went back [10:49] into the game, but the serve was not great for me today. I think I was rushing a lot and yeah, [10:55] just like a bit more like chaotic. Um, I didn't think about it. I just tried to go like point by [11:03] point. I wasn't really focusing on the score too much. And then, yeah, I mean, she was, she was returning [11:08] well, controlling the court today. So, you know, she played good throughout the whole match. So it was [11:14] really difficult to think about like if it's my chance or not. Like I tried to, you know, come [11:19] back and keep going. Like the crowd was amazing today, of course, uh, supporting me, but yeah, [11:24] it just didn't work. Thank you.