05/24/26 10:38:00
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05/24 10:36 CDT Tearful Kostyuk reaches French Open 2nd round and speaks of
missile attack back home in Ukraine
Tearful Kostyuk reaches French Open 2nd round and speaks of missile attack back
home in Ukraine
By JEROME PUGMIRE
AP Sports Writer
PARIS (AP) --- Marta Kostyuk's first-round win at the French Open became one of
her toughest matches after she found out beforehand that a missile almost hit
her parents' home in Ukraine.
Kostyuk fought back tears after beating Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-2, 6-3 on Court
Simonne-Mathieu on the opening day of the clay-court Grand Slam at Roland
Garros in western Paris.
"I think it was one of the most difficult matches of my career," the
15th-seeded Kostyuk said. "This morning, 100 meters away from my parents'
house, the missile destroyed the building and it was a very difficult morning
for me ... I didn't know how I would handle it, I've been crying part of the
morning."
She received a message at 8 a.m. and could not stop thinking what could have
happened.
"I felt sick," she said. "If it was 100 meters closer, I probably wouldn't have
a mom and a sister today."
Her mother, sister and great aunt --- were in the house at the time of the
strike, she said, among 17 people in total, so her relief was enormous that no
one was injured.
"I don't want to think what I would do if something worse happened, but I knew
that this is the day to go out and play," she said. "It didn't cross my mind
today that I shouldn't go out, because, you know, at the end of the day,
everyone is alive."
After the match, she thanked fans and received an ovation. Then she explained
how she found the emotional and mental resources to play.
"I think it's important to keep going. My biggest example is Ukrainian people,
I woke up in the morning today and," the 23-year-old Kostyuk said, becoming
tearful before repeating and finishing the sentence.
"I looked at all these people who woke up and kept living their life, kept
helping people who are in need," she said. "I knew a lot of Ukrainian flags
would be here today and a lot of Ukrainian people would come out, support. My
friends from Ukraine came as well."
When Kostyuk first served for the match at 5-1 she got broken. But she served
it out on her next opportunity and waved to fans holding up a Ukraine flag in
the upper deck.
She next plays unseeded American Katie Volynets and Kostyuk's countrywoman
Elina Svitolina --- a recent winner at the Italian Open in Rome --- faces Anna
Bondar on Monday.
The heat is on
Sunday's opening day saw players coping with high temperatures of 33 degrees
Celsius (91 Fahrenheit) --- with the intense heat contributing to Frenchman
Arthur Gea taking an emergency bathroom break early into his first-round loss
to No. 13 Karen Khachanov on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
Spectators folded newspapers in half and fanned themselves to keep cool as
players on court attempted to stay hydrated.
The opening match on Court Philippe-Chatrier saw No. 11 Belinda Bencic beating
Sinja Kraus 6-2, 6-3 and 2024 runner-up Alexander Zverev followed with a 6-3,
6-4, 6-2 win against Benjamin Bonzi. The second-seeded German plays unseeded
Tomas Machac next.
The night match on Chatrier features three-time champion Novak Djokovic against
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
Two days after his 39th birthday, Djokovic will play a men's record 82nd Grand
Slam tournament --- one more than Roger Federer and Feliciano Lopez.
___
AP Sports Writer Andrew Dampf in Paris contributed to this report.
___
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
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