For Marta Kostyuk, the recently ended clay-court swing briefly brought back the joy that had been missing while Ukraine continued to suffer. That happiness, however, was short-lived, as the 23-year-old was forced to withdraw from the HSBC Championship just before her R32 match against Mika Stojsavljevic because of a right ankle injury. Now, with SW19 fast approaching, her voice turned softer as she reflected on the painful reality unfolding back in her home country.

“With each passing year, I change, I grow, things change, and the w*r continues. Responsibility does not 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,” Kostyuk recently added while speaking to Clay Tennis.

“Anyone who has never lived through a w*r at home cannot fully understand what it is. I do everything possible to raise awareness and explain that what is happening is not normal and should never happen again.”

Those words reflected the stance the current French Open semifinalist has maintained ever since the conflict began. Kostyuk has never hesitated to speak publicly about the situation back in her home country.

One of the most emotional moments for her came during this year’s Roland Garros. Just hours before her first match against Oksana Selekhmeteva, she received devastating news from home.

A missile strike had struck only 100 meters from her parents’ home in the capital of Ukraine. Despite the shock, Kostyuk still walked onto the court to face Oksana Selekhmeteva. However, after the match, the current world No. 12 appeared to be crying while sitting in her chair before the on-court interview. 

It was a powerful reminder of the burden the WTA ace continues to carry while competing.

Even with everything happening in her beloved country, she has tried to find something meaningful in the experience. “My goal is to have as much balance as possible. At one point I was so focused on the w*r that I felt that if I didn’t read the news or wasn’t anxious, I was somehow betraying my family or the people who were there. But that interfered too much with my daily life.”

While Kostyuk continues to deal with the emotional challenges of competing during unrest in her home country, she always remains committed to using her platform to support the Ukrainian people. 

How Marta Kostyuk turned her career crisis into a Roland Garros semifinal breakthrough

Alongside the emotional burden caused by the continued conflict in her home country, Kostyuk was also battling a painful loss of her tennis form. The struggles became so overwhelming that at one point she even considered walking away from tennis.

After losing an exhibition match to Elina Svitolina last year, Kostyuk admitted to her coach, Sandra Zaniewska, that retirement had crossed her mind.

“I kind of hit rock bottom. I told her that it feels like I’m literally shedding my skin. Like it’s coming off, and I have to rip it, and it’s very painful because you hit these very deep, emotional things that are difficult to process. I felt like I’m coming to the point where I’ve tried everything that there is,” Kostyuk said.

For someone who once said she was born on the tennis court, the intention of quitting tennis remains one of the darkest moments of her career. However, following her loss in the Miami Open in March, Kostyuk and Zaniewska decided to hire an analytics firm to study her performance more closely.

And that changed everything.

The statistical data revealed something surprising, as according to the analysis, her level throughout this season was worthy of a place inside the world’s top 10.

Still, Kostyuk found it hard to believe. “I was like, ‘Yes, Sandra, it’s great, but where are the results? I’m not even close. The math is not mathing,’” Kostyuk explained.

And everything changed after her triumph in the Madrid Open on 2nd May. Zaniewska finally had the perfect response. “See, I told you. Just wait.”

That belief quickly turned into the breakthrough her fans had been waiting for. The 23-year-old went on to capture the Madrid Open and WTA Rouen title before reaching the SF at Roland Garros, completing the best clay-court swing of her career.

Now, as focus shifts to the grass-court season and the biggest tournament of them all, The Championships, the tennis world will be watching closely to see whether she can carry the same fearless hunger from clay onto the sport’s most prestigious stage at the All-England Club.