Marta Kostyuk is feeling ‘proud after she claimed her first WTA 1000 title in Madrid with victory over Mirra Andreeva.
The Ukrainian was too strong for the ninth seed as she won 6-3 7-5 to claim her big breakthrough in Spain.
It’s been an impressive week for Kostyuk which has capped off an impressive last few weeks having also won the title in Rouen.
After winning the match Kostyuk admitted she felt ‘proud’ of her achievement as she looks to build on this victory, “It feels unbelievable to stand here right now,” the Ukrainian was quoted by the WTA website as saying in the trophy ceremony.
“It took me many years to reach this point, and the one word I think about right now is consistency. It’s showing up every day, no matter how hard it is, no matter how much you love or hate what you do. And I’ve been doing that really well the past year.
“I’m very proud of myself and my team. Thank you guys so much for being there for me. I think only we know how much we went through and how many times I wanted to give up, but you kept me afloat, and you forced me to keep going. And that’s why I’m here today.”
The victory means that Kostyuk will rise to 15 in the world and is just outside the top eight in the WTA race rankings.
As for Andreeva it was disappointment as she missed out on winning a third WTA 1000 of her career.
However, Andreeva congratulated Kostyuk on the title and explained her emotions after the contest, “First of all, I would like to congratulate Marta and her team for this amazing win today and for how your clay season is going so far,” Andreeva stated to the WTA website.
“You won two tournaments in a row, so you’re playing very well. Thanks to my team for always being there for me, supporting me all the time when it’s easy and when it’s hard. I know it’s sometimes not easy to work with me, but I really appreciate all of your support and everything that you do for me. So thank you so much.
“Every time I lose, it’s like the end of the world to me. I don’t know. Sometimes I see other players smile right after the matches they lost. I don’t understand how people do it. I wish I could do it. Every match that I lose is obviously very disappointing and very painful to me.
“I hope that maybe in the future this can improve and I can maybe, after the match that I lose, talk about it right away and not (have to) take some time before starting to talk about it.”
