Marta Kostyuk has praised her improvement in mentality after she survived a big scare to overcome Katie Volynets at Roland Garros.
The in-form Ukrainian was pushed to her limits but found a way to win as she defeated the American 6-7 6-3 6-3 to reach the third round.
Having won Rouen and Madrid, Kostyuk entered Roland Garros in confident form but needed to find an extra level in order to advance in Paris.
Speaking after the match Kostyuk was pleased to have survived the sweltering conditions as she reached the third round, “I think I’m most pleased that I didn’t cramp to death or didn’t pass out during this match. But overall, yeah, it was not easy, not easy for everyone. But happy with the win, for sure,” Kostyuk stated in her post-match press conference.
“I was thinking about it, and I don’t think — it’s still not even close to the conditions I played in during Olympics here. This was one of the worst matches I experienced in my life. It was, like, 37 or 38 and very humid, and I beat Sakkari that day. Also, it was super-long match. Yeah, it was much worse than this.
“You know, I think it didn’t help me today that I played first match first, because it was way, way cooler. But, yeah, it was not easy. I needed to adapt. I needed time. Was very unlucky on set points in the first set. I think if I won that first set, it would have ended in two. I mean, I’m hoping it would be like this. Yeah, that didn’t help. But I still think it was really good match. I think she played very good today.
“For me, the biggest issue was first set, because I just needed to get used to this heat and to these conditions, which wasn’t easy. And she played good. You know, I needed to change things that I was doing, and that’s it. Yeah, it was, yeah, I mean, it’s still hot and it’s very dry. I always felt like I need to drink, I want to drink more and more. Yeah, it was tough.”
Kostyuk surviving the heat doesn’t just have to do with her physical stamina but her mentality on the court.
The Ukrainian searched for change in her mentality after her first round exit at the Australian Open from the Piatti Academy.
Kostyuk spoke about how she evolved in this department and how it’s helped shape her current run of form, “Yeah, I mean, I didn’t do a lot of it, but I think my osteo, Claudio, who is part of Piatti team many, many years, he told me after — it was very difficult message, that he sent after I lost in Melbourne first round and I got injured, and he said, yeah, like, your mind was not in the right place, like, you need to work on that. He didn’t say it in that way. He was just like texting on the group, saying, Yeah, I think there are things that can be improved, and it wasn’t good at all,” Kostyuk explained.
“He introduced us to this Mental Economy Training, and I have been doing that since then. I don’t know. It’s super cool. It doesn’t work for everyone, though. Like, we have spoken with them a lot, and they are, like, yeah, there are some players who are unbelievable at this, but they just go on court and nothing, like, it’s, like, gone. Yeah, but I’m happy with the work we’ve done. I don’t know exactly what has changed, like, because I didn’t do also that much. But I think what — like, the biggest difference that I see is that I care way less on the court, and, like, I don’t spend too much, like, of my brain energy on things. I just let it go faster.
“And I know the feeling that I have when I practice this thing, when I don’t use my brain energy, and I’m trying to find that feeling. So that helps me to not burn out, you know, or to be exhausted after long matches or whatever. So, yeah, I think that is the biggest difference for me.
“Yeah, I’ve said it before, like, my biggest problem before was that mentally it was difficult for me to sustain the level. Right now it’s less of an issue, for sure.”
Kostyuk will hope her mentality shift can help continue her run at Roland Garros when she faces Viktorija Golubic in the third round on Friday.
