Marta Kostyuk delivered a composed 6-2, 6-3 first-round victory over Oksana Selekhmeteva at the French Open on Sunday, 25 May 2025, completing the win in 1 hour and 18 minutes — just hours after learning that a missile strike had landed 100 metres from her family home in Kyiv. The Ukrainian's clinical performance on the clay of Roland Garros belied the emotional turmoil she had endured since waking that morning.

The News That Arrived Before Match Time

Kostyuk discovered earlier on Sunday that the missile had struck perilously close to the home where her mother, sister, and grandmother's sister were present. She described the hours before her match as physically debilitating. 'Most of the morning I was feeling sick, just from the thought that if it was 100m further it could be that I wouldn't have my mom and my sister anymore,' she said after the match.

The 22-year-old acknowledged that an 11am start time may have, in a grim sense, worked in her favour — leaving her little time to dwell on the news before she had to take the court.

Kostyuk's Words After the Match

'Right now, I think it was just the closest that it has ever been to my house and this is what probably makes it the most emotional,' Kostyuk said post-match. 'There are obviously better days, worse days, but yeah, this one was, I would say, top three worst ones.'

She also admitted that her focus drifted during the match itself. 'There were times in the match where I would go back to thinking about it,' she said. Her family, she confirmed, spent the day at home trying to recover from a sleepless night. 'They feel ok. Obviously very scary but, you know, it's not the first very difficult night, not the last, so, you know, they are adapting.'

A 12-Match Clay Winning Streak Continues

Despite the circumstances, Kostyuk's form on clay remains exceptional. Sunday's win extended her unbeaten run on the surface to 12 consecutive matches. The streak includes her title run at Madrid the previous week — the strongest clay-court stretch of her career to date. Her tennis has rarely looked sharper even as the backdrop to her life has rarely looked darker.

The Wider Toll of War on Ukrainian Athletes

Kostyuk has for years spoken openly about the psychological weight of competing professionally while her country is at war. Sunday's episode underscored what many Ukrainian players on tour continue to endure. 'It's definitely exhausting,' she said. 'Especially when it repeatedly is happening over the night, nobody is sleeping well. People are just more irritated and scared. But generally, everyone is really angry.'

This comes amid a broader pattern of Ukrainian athletes competing under extraordinary personal strain since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. For Kostyuk, Sunday in Paris was a stark reminder that the war does not stay off the court — it follows her onto it. How she navigates the rest of the tournament, both mentally and physically, will be one of the most closely watched storylines at Roland Garros this fortnight.