Marta Kostyuk Opens Up on the Difficult Balance Between Conflict in Ukraine and Tennis

Marta Kostyuk has, on many occasions, made the ongoing Ukraine war a major topic on tour. The 23-year-old has risen to become one of the prominent players on tour, particularly this season, winning two titles and reaching her maiden Grand Slam semi-finals. That has given her a platform to speak about the tragedies in her country.

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine began in 2022, spearheaded by Russia, which has been heavily criticized. Four years into the war, peace has been far from Ukrainians, and those on tour have been largely affected. At the French Open, she revealed that a missile landed very close to her parents’ house in Ukraine.

The World No.12 was very emotional while telling the story of the cruelties perpetrated by Russia in her country. However, that has not really affected her game on the court this season. She has been to three tour-level finals, with her first coming in January at the Brisbane International, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka.

She won the other two finals, notable among them was the Madrid Open victory against Russia’s star Mirra Andreeva. Kostyuk also reached the semi-finals of the Roland Garros for the first time in her career, beating top 10 stars, Iga Swiatek and Elina Svitolina, en route to the last four. But she lost to Andreeva in straight sets.

Nonetheless, Kostyuk has been criticized for not partaking in net handshakes with players from Russia and Belarus. She’s not the only Ukrainian player to have done so on tour, but some fans see it as her taking things too far, and she has always defended her actions. Speaking to Clay Tennis, she revealed why she has struggled to balance the conflict in Ukraine and Tennis:

With each passing year, I change, I grow, things change, and the war continues. The responsibility doesn’t disappear. I focus on what messages I want to convey, what I want to talk about, and on sharing people’s pain, my own pain. Anyone who has never experienced war in their home cannot fully understand what it is. I do everything I can to raise awareness and explain that what is happening is not normal and should never happen again.

Kostyuk was supposed to feature at the Queen’s Club Championships with the motive of kicking off her preparations for the Wimbledon Championships, but the Ukrainian star pulled out of the tournament. However, she’s expected to participate in Wimbledon, which starts on June 29, without a warm-up tournament.

Marta Kostyuk reveals when she feels loneliest on tour

Professional Tennis has been regarded as one of the loneliest sports. In many sports, teammates or groups often work toward a particular goal, but in tennis, it is solely on one player. The player has to travel around the world attending tournaments and will sometimes be without most of their team members.

Players often have to face the day-to-day pressure of playing on the court and seeking titles for eleven months. At the end of a season, some players would have participated in at least 20 tournaments and played 60 matches. During the aforementioned interview, Marta Kostyuk opened up about when she feels loneliest on tour:

Generally, the tour is pretty lonely. The loneliest I feel is usually during the Asian swing because everyone is so tired. I never go to Asia with my husband or with my dogs, so I’m really alone there. But I think it’s a problem of the sport itself. It’s not personal. It’s just the nature of tennis. I don’t like changing friends too often.

The competitiveness of tennis makes it hard for friendships to last and causes friction in relationships.

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