Kostyuk: I had a good cry during breaks because of the rain, it helped to calm down and improve the game

Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk said that the pauses due to rain helped her tune in to fight in the match with the eighth racket of the world Maria Sakkari in the first round Wimbledon 2023.

“It’s been a long month, I would say. When the results of the draw appeared, I was not the happiest person. I felt that I was playing well, but I came across dangerous opponents, so regaining my confidence is not so easy. In fact, I had a lot of expectations from myself, so I’m happy that today I was able to change the course of events.”

“When there was the first break, with the score 5-0 and “exactly”, I could not understand at all what was happening. I was in a hurry, I wanted to win and tried to do it the wrong way. The second pause helped me calm down even more. I have more time to get ready. Then I tried to just play every draw. To be honest, I don’t know how this game would have turned out if there weren’t these breaks due to rain. I took advantage of those breaks very well.”

“In the match, all the events unfolded so quickly, I made a lot of unforced errors. It had to be stopped somehow. The rain helped. The emotions during the game were such that in a sense I froze and could not do anything about it. I already felt a certain desperation that I was playing well, but I couldn’t understand why things were going so badly. So both times I cried well. It helped, I splashed everything out. After the second break, I accepted that I had already lost this match, and it turned out that this is not the worst thing in the world. I kind of let go and just kept trying to play point by point.”

“This victory means a lot, because it was my fifteenth attempt to defeat an opponent from the top ten. This one was on my list. I am very happy that this pressure has been lifted from my shoulders. I had played Sakkari twice before, lost twice by the same score, so I knew she would be ready to play me. I knew that she would be in a good mood and would fight to the end, and I was ready for this.

“There was conflicting behavior on the part of the audience in Paris. Of course, everyone can do what they want, but I did not understand this. And I think I’ll never understand. Obviously, there is a different support here, although at the start of the game they were more rooting for Sakkari. I understand this because she is more famous than me, she is also a top ten player. I was very happy that at the end of the game they supported me, and throughout the match too.

The Ukrainian lost the first set, but managed to win the next two. In the decisive game, Martha succeeded in a spurt of five games won in a row, after which she brought the match to victory.

In the second round of Wimbledon, Marta Kostyuk will play against Paula Badosa from Spain. The fight is scheduled for Friday, July 7th.