Despite a tough quarterfinal loss to fourth seed Coco Gauff on Tuesday, Marta Kostyuk is upbeat about her performance in Melbourne this fortnight.
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“This whole tournament I think is a big win for me,” said the Ukrainian world No.37, who achieved her best Grand Slam result by reaching the last eight.
“It's a win because I was playing one of the best girls in the world, managed to be still very close,” added Kostyuk, who won 120 points in total during the 7-6(6) 6-7(3) 6-2 defeat – just six fewer than Gauff in their three-hour encounter.
“I'm here to grow, to learn, to be better. Very proud of myself. I won for myself today, and I think it's the most important thing.”
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Asked to share her learnings from AO 2024, the Ukrainian had a swift answer.
“Dream big,” she said without hesitation.
It’s a line that has been germinating in her mind since sharing a player shuttle with Denmark’s Holger Rune at the Brisbane International earlier this month. Rune's phone was connected to the vehicle’s speakers, and he’d selected “Younger” a remix by Seinabo Sey and Kygo, for the drive.
The lyric ‘there's a way to catch your dreams without falling asleep’ stuck for Kostyuk, who said she listened to the song “for quite some time” later.
“Always this phrase was really catching me a lot,” she said. “I started the season, I knew I'm doing the right things and I knew I'm working well, everything is kind of aligning … it's supposed to happen but I don't know when, I don't know how, and where.”
Kostyuk's road to the final eight in Melbourne was far from easy. She admitted to struggling to sleep after a second-round upset of 25th seed Elise Mertens in an emotionally-charged night session, and struggled with a leg injury in the fourth round against qualifier Maria Timofeeva.
MORE: AO 2024 women's singles draw
“Everything that happened here was kind of expected but also unexpected, because I had very difficult matches,” she said.
“I was still in a lot of pain most of the tournament, and I still managed to compete and show great level of tennis."
Another takeaway from the event?
“There is really no limit in human possibilities,” said Kostyuk, who said gained newfound perspective in her own capabilities, and overall clarity.
“I'm very happy to be on this journey and just looking forward to what else I can learn.”
The right-hander took the opportunity to repeat a message she’s shared throughout the tournament: that she hopes the success of Ukrainian athletes can continue to buoy spirits at home while broadly keeping the war-afflicted nation front of mind elsewhere.
“When I walked off the court … I was texting with some people from Kyiv, ‘I said, How is it? How are you guys?’, they said, ‘Well, we were looking between your score and where the missiles are flying'," Kostyuk shared.
“Sport has always brought a lot of joy and happiness for people."
Looking ahead to the remainder of her 2024 season, Kostyuk isn’t aiming to reach a specific ranking. Rather, she’s entirely focused on the most coveted prize in tennis.
“I still want to win a Grand Slam, it's still my biggest goal, I will be going for that,” she said. “That’s my biggest and only goal so far.”
She's not anxious about how quickly or when that may happen; thanks to two years of therapy, the 21-year-old says her mentality has changed significantly.
“There are a lot of other things in life that should be in balance so that you feel as good as possible on tennis court,” Kostyuk reasoned.
“[A tennis] career is an eighth of your life. So you have to make sure that to feel fulfilled, every time you go back home, that you're fulfilled.
“If I will get a Grand Slam at the end of the day, I would be very happy … I just hope I can embrace it, and do other things on top of this.
“The journey is long, but I'm here for it."