Kostyuk: I don’t have a desire to devote more time to a couple, because anyway, I always have a single priority

Marta Kostyuk commented on reaching the quarterfinals doubles tournament Roland Garros. The Ukrainian tennis player also spoke about playing in a duet with the Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse.

In the 1/8 finals, Kostyuk and Rousse defeated the fourth seed, American Cathy McNally and Chinese Zhang Shuai.

“For this match, Rousse and I didn’t have any preparations, because of the two of us, I was the only one who played against McNally in doubles, and my partner met with these opponents only in singles matches. We didn’t understand how they play together,” said Kostyuk.

“We understood that they were a good pair, but we still have the opportunity to beat them. Before the score 4:6, 0:2, in fact, there was a struggle all the time: there were gameballs, there were breakpoints, but somewhere we were unlucky, then a line, then a small out, then the wind. We thought that the initiative would go over to our side. This should have happened, because before that we played the whole match on an equal footing. We tried to fight for every ball and in the end we were able to turn the tide of the game. Then there were also a lot of stubborn games, so I can’t even say that we always had the initiative. It was our attitude that worked the most.”

“I don’t have a desire to devote more time to a couple, because anyway, I always have a single priority. But wins in pairs in those moments when there is no confidence or there are problems in a single game, they help to find self-confidence for a single player. Both in terms of the game itself, and purely psychologically. I don’t plan to follow Kreychikova’s example, but I would still like to play a more stable pair. Find a partner so that we can play in those tournaments where we need to. My rating will allow me now to apply with guys and get into 250 tournaments or already sign up for the list of participants on the spot. This will help me in the future.”

“In our couple, the more positive one is still Gabriela, for this we thank her very much and for her constant support too. In fact, I’m learning from her, it’s very cool to play a couple with her and I’m happy that we can play well together. When we played the second match, it turned out that I was very nervous, because we were favorites and should have won that match. Rousse was not worried at first. But I got so nervous that in the second set we started to get nervous already together. In general, we both try to be positive.”

In the 1/4 finals, Kostyuk and Rousse will play against the Americans Madison Keys and Taylor Townsend. The fight is scheduled for May 31st.

Also, Lyudmila Kichenok reached the quarterfinals of the doubles of the French Open. The Ukrainian performs in a duet with Elena Ostapenko from Latvia.