How Kostyuk shed the 'curse' of early expectations to win first WTA 1000 crown

MADRID -- Marta Kostyuk kept coming back to one word after her Mutua Madrid Open title: consistency.

The 23-year-old Ukrainian said the weight of her early success -- winning the 2017 junior Australian Open at 14, reaching No. 2 in the junior rankings and advancing to the third round of the 2018 Australian Open in her tour-level Grand Slam debut -- had long stayed with her.

“I was living for many years in that state of everyone expecting big results from me,” Kostyuk said in press Saturday. “Almost winning, having such good results being so young was almost like a curse.”

Still, Kostyuk reflects proudly on those results, but freeing herself from that pressure has helped shape her 2026 season on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz. She opened the year with a final in Brisbane and has since won back-to-back titles in Rouen and Madrid, remaining unbeaten on clay.

Saturday’s 6-3, 7-5 win over Mirra Andreeva in the final marked Kostyuk’s first WTA 1000 title, made more meaningful at a tournament she once didn’t enjoy. Her coach, Sandra Zaniewska, had long believed the conditions suited her game.

“When we came here our first time being at this tournament was two years ago, and I lost first round, she was like, ‘I don’t understand why she doesn’t like to play here, the conditions suit her game really well,’” Kostyuk said. “I never saw it that way.”

Kostyuk saw it this year. She dropped only one set in Madrid and earned two Top 10 wins.

Kostyuk credits her mother for last-minute training sessions in Ukraine ahead of the clay season, a stretch that helped sharpen her level. The result has followed, with Kostyuk now on a 13-match winning streak from the Billie Jean King Cup through Madrid.

“I’m a Masters champion right now, but I want to keep doing the same thing and keep working and keep enjoying this journey,” Kostyuk said. “It’s about the journey, it’s not about the destination.”

After winning the title, wtatennis.com sat down with Kostyuk. From that consistency to achieving history and her on-court celebrations, here's more with your 2026 Madrid champion:

The word that you used on court was 'consistency.' Do you think this is the most consistent that you've been in your pro career this far?

Kostyuk: For sure. I'm playing good. I mean undefeated on clay this year, which is unbelievable. It takes a lot of work and I was pretty consistent the whole last year. I had some injuries, but I was consistent with the work and for me, it mattered and matters the most.

You've made some history being a part of the first-ever all-Ukrainian final in Rouen, and are the first Ukrainian champion in Madrid, can you share how special it feels to be a part of the current state of tennis in your country?

Kostyuk: I think Ukrainian tennis is incredibly strong right now, especially for women. In these difficult times, it matters even more. It's been really difficult past, almost 12 years for Ukraine, and I just tried to do as much as I can. I hope my foundation can bring more kids into tennis and just show them what beautiful sport it is and how much it can give you in life.

It's obviously very difficult, but it's a great opportunity to have in life if you can try to play tennis, so I'm very happy with how how things are for us right now and I hope there will be more players.

Earlier in the week, you were asked about adjusting to the Madrid clay and Rouen clay, and you talked about how it's so different than Rome and Roland Garros clay. Do you think you're gaining an appreciation for the Rouen and Madrid clay?

Kostyuk: I think they're incredibly different. For example, players were complaining a lot that Madrid is slippery, but I was like, 'Guys, hold on, you were not in Rouen.' This was extreme. So for me, coming here last year, it was also slippery for me, but I had nothing to compare it with. But this year, for sure, I was struggling a lot in Rouen, just not being able to move the way I want to move and because it was impossible to move the way that I wanted to.

Rome is entirely different conditions, so I have to adjust again and see how it goes there, but at the end, we all have to adjust every week, because every week is different, so it's the beauty of tennis.

Rome is up next, and will be a quick turnaround. What's going to be the key to keeping that consistency, the theme of your clay season so far?

Kostyuk: Right now, I think about my days off, that I will just not see tennis courts, I will not see tennis, and then hopefully I can be healthy and just go back to work. We start again, but it's great. I don't think about playing yet. I want to just rest a little bit. I had a very intense last few weeks.

The celebration on court, I'm curious, how did you learn a back handspring?

Kostyuk: I did acrobatics for seven years in my childhood, and then I actually had to practice it yesterday because I thought I would just break my back, my everything [laughing]. I realized that I'm getting really older, I cannot do these things anymore like I used to do. [It] was, for sure, a great moment.

Do you have a place in mind for the trophy?

Kostyuk: I have a place in our apartment, but I have no space for it so I didn't think about -- it's a good question [laughing]. I don't know. Maybe I will send it to Ukraine so my parents have it at home.

The moment you were popping the cork to the champagne, how did you feel in that moment -- you were shaking it for a good bit? 

Kostyuk: When guys do it, it looks a bit more epic because maybe I don't have enough strength to shake it well enough, but it was cool. When it was over, I was expecting a bit more, you know? As I said, I probably didn't have enough strength, but it was a good moment [laughing].