PARIS, May 31 (Reuters) - Marta Kostyuk's love affair with clay has blossomed into a full-blown romance after the Ukrainian stunned world number one Iga Swiatek 7-5 6-1 to reach her first Roland Garros quarter-final on Sunday.
The 23-year-old had not advanced past the second round in Paris in four years but extended her claycourt winning streak to 15 matches on the Tour, transforming what was once a love-hate relationship with Roland Garros into pure adoration.
She began the claycourt swing by winning the Open de Rouen before stunning the field to win the Madrid Open despite being the 26th seed.
"For sure it feels great, very happy with the streak. Very happy with the quarter-final. Going to celebrate a little bit today and keep my head in the tournament," she told reporters.
"A lot of things clicked this year on clay too, and in Madrid, which was also not my best tournament. It's a good feeling.
"I think I just give myself more space. I'm enjoying more, just creating points, dealing with challenges, learning how to navigate the difficult situations in the matches."
'I'M STILL THE UNDERDOG'
Despite admitting before the match that she was entering as the clear underdog, Kostyuk embraced the role and produced a tactical masterclass to negate Swiatek's serve and unlock the four-times champion's usually impenetrable defence.
"It was a great match-up, but at the end of the day, I still think I was the underdog in this match," she said.
"Things change in tennis, but I'm much more consistent. I'm the most consistent I have ever been in my career and a long way to go to be a top-10, top-5 player.
"Technically, I'm still the underdog. We will see, maybe a lot of things will change after this tournament or not. I'm not going to be considered an underdog anymore, but I don't mind being in both positions."
'WHAT AM I DOING HERE?'
Her remarkable run comes despite trouble back home after a Russian missile slammed near her family home in Kyiv hours before her first-round match, with the Ukrainian asking her coach Sandra Zaniewska if it made sense to even play in Paris.
"It's a different perspective because, for example, before my first-round match, I told Sandra, 'I don't even know, what am I doing here? Like, this is not important at all'," she said.
"So it was difficult for me. I didn't know how the match is going to go because I didn't know if I'd just be able to keep the focus on important things, which was winning the match and playing tennis.
"Sometimes it gives you different perspective, whether it's that it's not important at all that I'm here, or it's great that I'm here. I have this opportunity and I'm really thankful for that."
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
