Marta Kostyuk stepped onto the Roland Garros courts on Sunday with a heavy heart and a mind racing with images of destruction. Just hours before her first-round match, a Russian missile struck near the home of her family in Kyiv, forcing the Ukrainian star to channel fear and anxiety into her game.

A Match Played Under Shadow

The 23-year-old received photos of the damage close to the house where her mother, sister, and aunt were staying. The proximity of the attack was terrifying. "I felt sick just for the thought that if it was 100 meters closer, I probably wouldn’t have a mum and a sister today," Kostyuk told reporters after securing a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Oksana Selekhmeteva.

While tennis is often described as a mental game, Kostyuk noted that the stakes felt entirely different on this particular Sunday. The strike occurred during one of the heaviest bombardments of the Ukrainian capital since the full-scale invasion began four years ago, involving hundreds of drones and missiles. The night left residents exhausted and shaken.

"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," she explained. Despite the emotional turmoil, Kostyuk produced a composed performance. She even found the composure to attempt an underarm serve during the second set, a tactic she uses to surprise opponents.

Relief and Resilience

Withdrawing from the tournament never crossed her mind, primarily because her family 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."

Kostyuk ranked this incident among the most difficult moments she has endured since 2022. While the initial uncertainty of the war’s start was harrowing, the physical closeness of this attack made it uniquely emotional. "This was definitely one of the top three worst ones," she admitted.

The victory sets up a second-round clash against American player Katie Volynets. However, Kostyuk’s post-match comments extended beyond the scoreboard. She suggested that visible support for Ukraine on the tennis circuit has diminished as the conflict enters 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 observed.

Despite the fading attention, Kostyuk remains committed to using her platform to remind the world of the ongoing reality in Ukraine. "People forget, people adapt, but for us it’s still reality every single day," she said.