With increased power and a clear goal in mind, Kostyuk has Top 10 aspirations

Marta Kostyuk had quite the eventful offseason.

She rested and recharged in the Maldives -- her "happy place" -- went on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje (a small town in Bosnia and Herzegovina), returned to Ukraine and ended up in Dubai before heading Down Under for the start of the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz season. (She also got a second dog, who proved to be more of a troublemaker than her first and required a substantial amount of training.)

The 23-year-old took advantage of her team's decision to take a longer break than usual after the season ended, in a year where she played a jam-packed schedule consisting of 22 tournaments (including Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers, and then the BJK Cup Finals five months later).

"It was a team decision," the World No. 26 said before heading to Brisbane for her first tournament of the year. "We were like, 'OK, we want some longevity, and we want me to be mentally healthy.'"

Once the extended break concluded and Kostyuk returned to the court and the weight room, she went full bore.

Working with her fitness coach, Jolanta Rusin, for a third straight preseason, the pair homed in on Kostyuk's precision strength, which is more about explosive movements than being able to lift a ton of weight. Rusin created a series of intense, intentional workouts that incorporated speed, endurance and strength, specifically eccentric and isometric exercises. It was challenging work, Kostyuk says, though she and Rusin have been working towards this evolution of her fitness and power over the last three years.

They couldn't have executed it as effectively when they first started their working relationship.

"I needed two years of work so my body can handle what we are doing right now," she says. "And it's not like everyone is going to see my strength or my power in the first week of the year. It's something that we have just started building up, and it's going to come in time."

With time and reps, Rusin and the rest of the team have gotten to understand Kostyuk's body more intricately, and they've used that valuable information to not only build up the Ukrainian's power, but also help her prevent injuries. (Despite a wrist injury that sidelined her from the Cincinnati Open last summer, she played a full schedule in 2025.)

Ahead of her first tournament of the year in Brisbane, Kostyuk said she feels the effects of her offseason training, and is not merely excited about what it could mean for her performance on court -- she's also amazed.

"It's amazing to see how things come together and you become this incredibly fast human being," she said. "Incredibly sharp and explosive. This process is incredible. And every time I go through it as an athlete, it's just so mesmerizing to me."

Starting the season in her favorite place

Beyond feeling physically fit and energized, Kostyuk also gets life from the Australian swing, a part of the year where she's enjoyed some breakthrough moments and tends to shine.

She's had more than a few wonderful memories in Australia: her girls' singles title in Melbourne, when she was 14 -- the first Grand Slam she ever played -- is one of them. More recently, in 2024, she had her best result at a major when she reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

And as far as it is from home, at times it feels like home. That's due, in large part, to a Ukrainian family that Kostyuk met at the tournament some years ago. She sees them every year at the season's first Slam, and considers them her Australian family.

But before she sets her sights on another deep run in Melbourne, she has a couple of tune-ups at WTA 500 tournaments in Brisbane and Adelaide, where she made the quarterfinals in both 2023 in 2024.

It was a strong start to her season on Wednesday in Brisbane, as Kostyuk came from behind to beat Yulia Putintseva 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-0 in her 2026 debut.

"I feel great," Kostyuk said. "I feel happy. I feel happy to be traveling again for the tournaments, and I start from my favorite place, Australia. I feel rested. I feel excited."

Kostyuk targets the Top 10

Despite a solid season in which Kostyuk reached the quarterfinals of three WTA 1000 tournaments and the fourth round of the US Open, she fell in the PIF WTA Rankings in 2025. She started the season ranked No. 18 and fell down to No. 36 in April, ultimately finishing at No. 26.

The year prior, a few months removed from reaching the semis of Indian Wells and the Stuttgart final, she hit a career-high No. 16.

As she begins her ninth season on the WTA Tour, she's aiming to get back there, and then blow past it and into the Top 10. It's the first time she's had a specific, concrete benchmark like that in mind.

"I want to finish the year in the Top 10," she says. "I've never set a goal like this before, a clear goal in my head. I still don't think it's the right thing to do, to focus on the rankings, because the most important thing is to develop yourself and your game. Then the rankings will just be a consequence of the work that you do. 

"But it's something that I keep in my head. It's still good to have something like this in your head, because it's a direction that you want to go. Because if you don't have a direction, you can get lost, you know?"

The ultimate goal, of course, is to win a Grand Slam. Though even that takes a backseat to being a quality human being and role model.

"At the end of the day, the most important thing is what kind of person you are," she says. "[It's more important] than what kind of player you are. This is what we, as a whole team, work on every day, too. I think at times it is an even more difficult job than being a tennis player."