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Marta Kostyuk bowed out of the Australian Open in the quarterfinals, losing to Coco Gauff in a tight 7-6(6), 6-7(3), 6-2 battle. According to the Ukrainian, her run at the Slam has, in her eyes, drawn some attention back to the war in her home country.
Speaking to the media during her post-match presser, Kostyuk credited her own and fellow Ukrainian players' performances at the Australian Open for attention continuing to bring attention to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
The youngster expressed hope that players from Ukraine continue to do well at the big events and garner more media attention in the hopes that them being in the spotlight also ignites conversations about the situation in Ukraine.
"I think girls did really well," Marta Kostyuk said. "I hope, you know, we will be able to succeed on most of the tournaments, especially the big ones where there is a lot of media."
Kostyuk shared the constant uncertainty of living through the war even as she is around the world at different tennis events.
"Yeah, I think people should be reminded," she said. "I walk off the court -- before the match I was looking at the news and I kind of guess that most likely there would be a big missile shelling again. When I walked off the court, I look at this news again, and again, I don't know how many missiles yet."
Kostyuk added that people back home told her that they had been switching between her matches and updates on missile attacks in the past fortnight.
"I was texting with some people from Kyiv. I said, How is it? How are you guys? They said, Well, we were looking between your score and where the missiles are flying," Marta Kostyuk added.
The youngster revealed that her parents and sister were still in Ukraine, adding that the situation in the country was still very tense as the war continues to wage.
"So it's still there. It's still there. My parents are still there... My sister is still there, Yeah, it's still there, you know. Still not gone," she added.
This year, a historic four Ukrainian women — Kostyuk, Elina Svitolina, Dayana Yastremska, and Lesia Tsurenko — made the second week at the Australian Open. Out of them, only Yastremska is still in the competition, as she gears up for a quarterfinals clash against Linda Noskova.
"Here to grow, to learn, to be better" - Marta Kostyuk after Australian Open campaign
Marta Kostyuk reflected on her strong run at the Australian Open, saying she was very proud of how far she had come.
The 21-year-old said she was not going to be too hard on herself for losing the quarterfinal encounter against Coco Gauff, as it was just a tennis match and she was here to learn and improve.
"I think it's just a tennis match, you know," Marta Kostyuk said. "I'm here to grow, to learn, to be better. Yeah, very proud of myself."
Kostyuk went on to express hope of building on her good start to the year, saying she was looking forward to what lies ahead for her.
"I won for myself today, and I think it's the most important thing. It's just the beginning of the season. Looking forward for what's ahead," she added.
The Ukrainian beat Claire Liu, Elise Mertens, Elina Avenasyan, and Mario Timofeeva at the Australian Open 2024 before her loss to Gauff.
