Marta Kostyuk believes that tennis has forgotten the war in Ukraine and she hopes that the success of Ukrainian women at the Australian Open will generate further attention for the issue as she reached the quarter-finals of a grand slam tournament for the first time in her career.
I hope so because it really seems for a lot of people that it’s over,” Kostyuk said. “Something incredible happened. Ukraine managed to not be [captured] in three days, in Kyra as well. So it was like all a miracle. I feel it’s not a miracle any more, so why talk about it? Yeah, I hope that the [Ukrainian] girls can keep on doing what they’re doing and reminding as much as possible.”
On Sunday Kostyuk took a long awaited step forward in her career as she outclassed Maria Timofeeva of Russia 6-2, 6-1 in the fourth round. Kostyuk was once one of the most highly rated youngsters of her generation after she reached the third round of the Australian Open as a 15-year-old qualifier. Between her great athleticism, variety and her smooth, potent groundstrokes, her talent suggested that she was destined for a deeper run one day.
Now 21 and ranked No 35 in the world, Kostyuk’s rise has been more gradual than she would have hoped, but despite various setbacks she has kept moving forward. Off the court, Kostyuk has been a candid speaker since her youth, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to her becoming one of the most outspoken and vocal players on the subject of the war. “The war is still there,” Kostyuk said. “People are still dying every day.
“I still don’t understand what all these players are doing here. Nothing really changed in my world. I feel like in general it’s a lot of processes happening to come to this point where people forget about it because, yeah, people get used to it. I understand that everyone has their own issues, and everyone is focused on their thing. I think I’m here to remind everyone all the time that it’s still on, and it should be stopped. It’s not normal that it’s happening.”
Despite the players living through such a traumatic period in their daily lives, on the court this has been one of the greatest periods that Ukrainian tennis has experienced.
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