Marta Kostyuk advanced to the first round of Roland Garros after an emotionally difficult day and news of an attack near her family home
Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk secured her place in the second round of Roland Garros after defeating Oksana Selekhmeteva in Paris 6:2, 6:3. The first-round match of the women's singles tournament was played on Sunday, May 24, 2026, on Court Simonne-Mathieu, and according to official Roland Garros data it lasted one hour and 18 minutes. Kostyuk, who arrived in Paris as the 15th seed and one of the most successful players of this year's clay-court part of the season, completed the task safely in terms of the score, but her sporting performance remained in the shadow of the news she received before going out onto the court.
According to reports from Roland Garros and the AP agency, before the match Kostyuk learned that during a Russian attack on Kyiv, a projectile had hit a building near her parents' home. After the victory, the Ukrainian spoke visibly shaken, stating that the attack had happened about 100 meters from the house where her mother, sister and great-aunt were staying. According to her statement reported by AP, there were a total of 17 people in the house, and no one was injured. That information, Kostyuk said, was what allowed her to go out onto the court and play the match, although she had spent the morning in fear and tears.
A confident victory in a match that carried more weight for Kostyuk than the result
The official score shows a clear victory for the 15th seed, but the course of the match was not merely a question of the difference in play. From the start of the encounter, Kostyuk imposed her rhythm, created early pressure on her opponent's serve and more often controlled the rallies. According to WTA statistics, she won 68 of the total 115 points, converted six of 13 break opportunities and was more stable in the key moments. Selekhmeteva, who appeared in the official Roland Garros draw under the Spanish flag, had problems on serve and finished the match with 12 double faults, which additionally opened up space for the Ukrainian.
Kostyuk won the first set 6:2, and in the second she continued to hold the score advantage. According to the report on the official Roland Garros website, not every service game for closing out the sets passed without complications, but the overall impression was that the Ukrainian had control of the match. Tournament organizers state that she hit 20 winners, including 12 with her forehand, which shows how often she took the initiative in the rallies. At moments when emotional pressure threatened to disturb her concentration, she tried to shorten the points and stick to an aggressive game plan.
After the match, Kostyuk said that she did not know what she could expect from herself and how much she would be able to control her thoughts during the match. The official Roland Garros website reported her words that during the encounter there were moments when she returned to thinking about the attack, because the thought had haunted her all morning that the consequences would have been different if the projectile had fallen about a hundred meters closer. She emphasized that she was proud of the way she endured the day, and she linked the victory with the relief that the members of her family were alive.
The attack on Kyiv gave the sporting performance a broader context
The broader context of the match is inevitably connected with the war in Ukraine, which remains an everyday reality for Ukrainian athletes and their families. According to the Office of the President of Ukraine, on the night of May 24 Russia carried out a combined attack on Ukraine with 90 projectiles of various types and 600 drones, with Kyiv named as the main target. The same official statement says that residential buildings and civilian infrastructure were damaged in the capital, that more than 70 people were injured in Kyiv, and that four people were killed and around 100 injured nationwide. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the sites of the attacks in Kyiv and thanked the services that took part in rescue operations and dealing with the aftermath.
For Kostyuk, that attack had an immediate personal dimension. AP reports that she received the message about the damage in the morning, before the match, and then looked at photographs of the destruction near the place where her mother and sister had spent the night. She said it never occurred to her not to go out onto the court, because the most important thing was that everyone had survived. Such a statement does not lessen the gravity of the circumstances, but shows the psychological framework in which the first-round match was played: a professional obligation at a Grand Slam tournament collided with immediate fear for family.
Ukrainian athletes have often spoken in recent years about competing with the parallel burden of war at home. Kostyuk is one of the players who has spoken openly about that subject since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and her press conference in Paris once again showed how much external pressures can affect a competition day. In this case the result was convincing, but the player herself emphasized that it was one of the most difficult matches of her career. The sporting context of the victory therefore cannot be separated from the news that preceded the encounter.
Kostyuk arrived in Paris on her best clay-court run of the season
The victory over Selekhmeteva is a continuation of Marta Kostyuk's exceptionally successful run on clay. The official Roland Garros website states that the Ukrainian came to Paris after consecutive titles in Rouen and Madrid, and that she remained unbeaten on clay this season. The title in Madrid stands out in particular, her first WTA 1000 category trophy, which was the greatest success of her career so far. That result brought her to the status of one of the players who in Paris are viewed not only as seeds, but also as candidates for a deeper run into the second week of the tournament.
According to her ITF profile, Kostyuk is 23 years old and competes as a right-handed player. In the 2026 season, up to Roland Garros, she had already built a strong win-loss record, and her progress on clay is particularly important because in previous seasons she was often described as a player of great potential but variable stability. This spring she showed a different level of consistency: the title in Rouen gave her confidence, and success in Madrid confirmed that she can deal with the strongest opponents on a big stage.
The official Roland Garros website also states that this is Kostyuk's seventh appearance in Paris, but that clearing the opening hurdle is only the second time in the last five years. That fact additionally emphasizes the importance of the victory over Selekhmeteva, because Roland Garros had not previously been a tournament where she regularly built major results. This time she arrived in Paris with a different status, a higher ranking and much greater expectations. That is precisely why a calm first-round victory, despite extraordinary emotional circumstances, is also important for the sporting continuation of the tournament.
Statistics confirmed the difference in pressure on return
Although the match ended in two sets, the numbers reveal that Kostyuk created the biggest difference on return and in points on the second serve. According to official WTA statistics, she won 58.3 percent of return points and 65.2 percent of points on her opponent's second serve. Such data explain why she had 13 break points and why Selekhmeteva struggled to reach stable service games. The Ukrainian did not have to play a perfect serving match, because the pressure on the return constantly kept the score under her control.
Selekhmeteva, according to the same data, won 47 of the total 115 points, which shows that the difference was systematic and not the result of a few isolated games. She converted three break opportunities from seven attempts, but she was unable to sustain pressure for longer. Kostyuk, on the other hand, despite five double faults, distributed risk better and more often emerged as the winner from important exchanges. Such a match structure suited a player who is in form, but also one who needed clear tactical anchor points in order to suppress off-court thoughts.
The forehand was one of Kostyuk's key shots. The official Roland Garros website highlighted 12 forehand winners, which in a match lasting one hour and 18 minutes is a significant contribution. This is not just a statistical detail, but also an indicator of the way in which the Ukrainian tried to keep the encounter in her own hands. When she could attack first, especially from the middle of the court, she quickly opened up space and forced Selekhmeteva onto the defensive.
Selekhmeteva failed to stop a player on a major surge
Oksana Selekhmeteva had a difficult task in Paris from the draw itself. She faced a player who arrived with a long winning streak on clay and with a major title won in Madrid. Although in certain parts of the second set she tried to respond, especially when she managed to reach break opportunities, she failed to change the basic direction of the match. Too many double faults and too few points won after the second serve made every attempt at a comeback difficult for her.
For Selekhmeteva, the appearance at Roland Garros is nevertheless an important part of her return to a bigger stage. In the official match record she was listed as a Spanish representative, and AP also identified her as a player from Spain. Against Kostyuk she did not find enough solutions for the rhythm imposed by her opponent, but the result does not erase the fact that she was playing against one of the most dangerous tennis players of the spring part of the season. In such circumstances, even smaller dips on serve quickly become decisive.
Kostyuk, meanwhile, confirmed with this victory that her spring rise was not tied to just one tournament. After Rouen and Madrid, the first round of Paris brought a different kind of test: not only tennis, but emotional and concentration-related. Getting through such a day without losing a set has special value for her. It is a result that is recorded in the table as a routine victory, but under the circumstances it was far from a routine performance.
The next obstacle is Katie Volynets
The official Roland Garros website states that Kostyuk will face American Katie Volynets in the second round, after Volynets beat French wild card Clara Burel. That encounter will bring a different profile of challenge, because after an emotional first round Kostyuk will have to find competitive balance again and confirm her seeded status. In sporting terms, the victory over Selekhmeteva gives her the necessary rhythm, but the continuation of the tournament will demand a new level of stability.
It is also important for Kostyuk that she finished the first match relatively quickly, without a physically exhausting third set. At Grand Slam tournaments, early passages often have great value, especially for players who arrive with a long run of matches and high expectations. However, her case shows that physical expenditure is not the only form of strain. Mental fatigue after the news from Kyiv could be an equally important factor in preparation for the next match.
In Paris, her performance will therefore be followed from two angles. The first is sporting: whether a player who won Madrid and remained unbeaten on clay can continue the run on the biggest stage of that part of the season. The second is human: how an elite athlete copes with the fact that her family lives in a city that was under attack that same day. After the 6:2, 6:3 victory, Kostyuk provided an answer at least for the first round: she played calmly enough to advance, and openly enough that the weight of what happened off the court was not lost.
Sources:
- Roland Garros – official report on Marta Kostyuk's victory and statements after the match (link)
- Roland Garros – official match record of Marta Kostyuk against Oksana Selekhmeteva, result, court and duration of the encounter (link)
- WTA – official match statistics for Kostyuk against Selekhmeteva at Roland Garros 2026 (link)
- Associated Press – report from Paris on Marta Kostyuk's emotional performance and the attack near her family home (link)
- Office of the President of Ukraine – official statement on the consequences of Russian attacks on Kyiv on May 24, 2026 (link)
- ITF – Marta Kostyuk profile with basic information about the player (link)