Svitolina reflects on the emotional cost of competing far from home

PARIS -- A day after Marta Kostyuk revealed that a missile strike had landed near her family’s home in Kyiv, Elina Svitolina found herself trying to put words to something Ukrainian players on tour have been carrying for years now -- the helplessness of competing thousands of miles away while family and friends wake up to nights like that back home.

Svitolina had just gutted out another long three-set battle Monday at Roland Garros, grinding past Anna Bondar 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(3) to move into the second round. But when Kostyuk’s situation came up afterward, Svitolina’s focus shifted immediately.

“Yeah, I've seen [Kostyuk] talking about it,” Svitolina told wtatennis.com. “Of course, it's very difficult. It was a massive attack that night and I have so many friends also talking about it, and it was very scary and I cannot even imagine her waking up and being so worried and scared.

“Just too much, and she needs to go play a match. So, of course, it's very heavy, very difficult, and I think she handled it the best way she could.”

Svitolina said nights like the one Ukraine experienced this weekend do not simply disappear once players step on court the next day.

“Especially the nights like that, it was a massive attack on Kyiv and generally in Ukraine,” she then said in press. “We are kind of used to it, in a way, but of course in Marta's case, when the missile is landing really close to your home, to your parents, it is just terrifying.”

The fear, she admitted, can quickly spiral beyond the match itself.

“You start to think about your life and what are you doing here, in a way, because you could potentially lose your family,” Svitolina added.

For more than four years, Ukrainian players on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz have tried to balance the rhythms of tour life with the emotional reality waiting back home. Svitolina acknowledged that much of it stays private, even as it quietly weighs on players week after week.

“We have been dealing with that, maybe not always talking about this, but it's extremely tough, and I think it's weighing on us for years and years now,” she said. “Some nights are easier. Some nights are more difficult.”

And after attacks like the one that unfolded across Ukraine this weekend, she said even basic normalcy can feel distant.

“When you have a massive attack like this, over 600 missiles landing in Ukraine, you just feel really down,” Svitolina said. “You really don't want to do anything. You just shut down.”