Paris, May 24: Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk overcame emotional turmoil to advance to the second round of the French Open with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Russia’s Oksana Selekhmeteva on Sunday.
Kostyuk revealed after the match that she had learned earlier in the day that a missile strike in Kyiv had landed just 100 metres from her family home, where her mother and sister were present.The 22-year-old admitted she struggled emotionally before and during the match, saying thoughts about her family’s safety repeatedly entered her mind on court.
“It was probably one of the worst days emotionally,” Kostyuk said. “If the missile had landed a little further, I might not have had my mother and sister anymore.”
Despite the distress, Kostyuk produced a composed display to continue her impressive clay-court form, extending her winning streak on the surface to 12 matches following her recent Madrid title triumph.
Meanwhile, men’s second seed Alexander Zverev made a strong start to his campaign with a straight-sets victory over France’s Benjamin Bonzi.
Zverev won 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to comfortably progress to the second round as he continues his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title.
Elsewhere, former India No.1 Somdev Devvarman defended the protected ranking system in tennis, calling it “merit-based”, while expressing concern over the lack of Indian singles players in the world’s top 200 rankings.While Zverev marched on with another commanding performance in Paris, it was Kostyuk’s resilience in the face of personal trauma that stood out on an emotional opening day at Roland Garros. As the tournament gathers pace, the contrasting stories once again highlighted both the sporting excellence and the human struggles that often unfold side by side on tennis’ biggest stage.
Kostyuk’s victory served as a powerful reminder of the emotional burden many Ukrainian athletes continue to carry while competing on the global stage, even as Zverev underlined his status as one of the favourites for the title with a clinical opening-round display. (IANS)
