Marta Kostyuk has, for the first time in Ukraine’s history, reached the semifinals of the prestigious Roland Garros. In a tense three-set Ukrainian derby, the 23-year-old Kyiv native defeated the highly decorated Elina Svitolina.
On Tuesday, June 2, a unique and historic moment in national sport took place on the courts of Paris.
The two best tennis players of the country competed for a place in the semifinals of the French Open.
In a highly intense match, Marta Kostyuk defeated Elina Svitolina and became the first Ukrainian woman ever to reach the Roland Garros women’s singles semifinal on clay at this Grand Slam.
The match on the main Philippe Chatrier court lasted 1 hour and 51 minutes, featuring major momentum swings:
First set: Kostyuk took control early, winning three consecutive games. Despite Svitolina’s attempts to catch up, Kostyuk closed the set confidently — 6:3.
Second set: Svitolina responded in kind, racing to a 3:0 lead. In a difficult eighth game, she finally converted on her fourth break point to take the set — 6:2 in favor of the former Ukrainian No. 1.
Deciding set: The players traded games nervously at the start, but Kostyuk accelerated late, winning the final four games in a row to secure a historic victory — 6:2.
With this win, Kostyuk extended her clay-court winning streak to 17 consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, Svitolina’s winning streak ended at 10 matches, and she has now fallen at the quarterfinal stage in Paris for the sixth time in her career.
Kostyuk’s path to the semifinals has been remarkable: she sensationally eliminated four-time Paris champion Iga Świątek on her way to the quarterfinals.
In the next round, Ukraine’s first-ever Roland Garros semifinalist will face a highly anticipated match against world No. 8, “neutral” Mirra Andreeva, who defeated Sorana Cîrstea 6–0, 6–3 in her quarterfinal.
Statistics favor the Ukrainian: in 2026, Kostyuk has already beaten Andreeva twice — in Brisbane and in the Madrid “thousand” final, which became the biggest Ukrainian tennis victory in seven years.
