LONDON (AP) 鈥� As Marta Kostyuk played on Centre Court at on Wednesday, her compatriots in Ukraine were dealing with by Russia on Kyiv.
It’s been the same for much of Kostyuk鈥檚 run to the semifinals.
On Monday, after Russian missiles struck residential buildings close to where Kostyuk’s parents live, she had to block that out to play her fourth-round match at the Grand Slam tournament. Last week, Russia hammered the Ukrainian capital with that killed at least 21 civilians.
For Kostyuk, every day is about finding a way to focus on tennis while not shutting her eyes to what is going on at home.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not easy to disconnect entirely,鈥� Kostyuk said after to reach the last four at Wimbledon for the first time.
鈥淚t was really tough for me last week when the first big attack happened,” the 24-year-old Kostyuk continued. “Then on Monday they ruined like four streets of residential buildings. It was like five kilometers away from where my parents live. Again, another difficult night and a lot of dead people, innocent people, kids. It鈥檚 not easy. I try to be aware of everything that鈥檚 going on. Of course, I try for these things not to influence me too much.鈥�
The 12th-seeded Kostyuk is into her second straight Grand Slam semifinal after in the last four at the French Open. The two did not shake hands before that match, which has become the standard procedure for meetings between Russian and Ukrainian players since in 2022.
Like in most sports, Russian players have competed as neutrals on the men’s and women’s tennis tours since then. But the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday provisionally lifted its ban on Russia and recommended that individual sports drop the neutral status for athletes.
The Kremlin on Wednesday as an 鈥渋mportant step鈥� toward reinstating the rights of Russian athletes.
Kostyuk had a different take.
鈥淢y thoughts are that it鈥檚 terrible,鈥� Kostyuk said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 very, very far from fair play for all the countries involved here, not just for Ukraine. I 100% don鈥檛 agree with this decision. … I just want to go out there and hopefully beat every single Russian I play in the Olympics.鈥�
There are no Russian singles players left in the Wimbledon tournament. Kostyuk will face Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic on Thursday. In the other semifinal, American Coco Gauff takes on another Czech player in Karolina Muchova.
Kostyuk is the second woman from Ukraine to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon after Elina Svitolina did it in 2019 and 2023.
Svitolina lost on both occasions. So what would it mean for Ukraine if Kostyuk becomes the country’s first finalist?
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping,鈥� she said, 鈥渋t would mean a lot.鈥�
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