Marta Kostyuk has reached her maiden Grand Slam semi-final after defeating Elina Svitolina in an all-Ukrainian quarter-final clash at Roland Garros.
The 23-year-old Kostyuk has not lost a match on clay this year as she was the last player standing at the Open de Rouen and the Madrid Open while she has taken her unbeaten run to 17 matches by reaching the last four at Roland Garros.
The 15th seed broke twice in the first set before Svitolina returned the favour in the second set to take the match to a decider as both players struggled to hold serve early. The third set started with five consecutive breaks before Kostyuk held.
A second break confirmed the 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 win in one hour and 49 minutes for the world No 15, who will face No 8 Mirra Andreeva – the player she beat in the Madrid Open final in April – for a place in the French Open final.
Kostyuk – whose previous best run in Paris was a fourth-round appearance back in 2021 – paid tribute to former world No 3 Svitolina, saying: “Of course I want to point out Elina and her incredible impact on Ukrainian tennis, on Ukrainians, and on me…
“And everyone who’s watching… she’s an unbelievable fighter. I’m so happy to be in the semi-finals. But I want to thank her again for this incredible match.”
She is now just two matches away from being undefeated on clay this year, but she is refusing to look past her next match.
“I still think it’s very far. I have to play Mirra in the semi-finals. I’m very excited for Thursday and hopefully you guys come and support me,” Kostyuk said.
