Marta Kostyuk sat down with Tennis365 for an extended interview at the Wuhan Open, with her honesty shining through as she reflected on the highs and lows of her 2025 season.
In this slice of our exclusive interview, Kostyuk talks about her battles with Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek and the advantages she feels the highest ranked players in the women’s game have over her.
Are you satisfied with your season?
Not entirely. You know, I will see where the year comes to an end, but this is the time when you look back at all the things you have done and what you could have done better. I think this year there are a lot of improvements outside of the court in the way I live my life, the way I approach life. So there is a lot of positives from this year but also some problems like injuries and defeats in close matches.
You seem to have a few regrets from the 2025 season?
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I just feel like I was hitting the wall a lot of times this year, losing a lot of matches to top 10 players. In a lot of matches I was really close and I couldn’t get over the line. So as the year comes to an end, I have some frustrations. I feel like I need to take the last few steps to overcome this. It’s important that you really believe in what you do and believe it will happen for you. This year, it has felt like there was obstacle after obstacle at times, I wasn’t very lucky with the draws. Somehow, I ended up where I am. It was a decent year, but not good enough for me.
What separates you from the players at the top of the rankings?
Against Iga (Swiatek), when I have played her, I wasn’t ready to play her at all. I played her over a year ago and she was very strong. With Aryna (Sabalenka), I know it is a tough battle. I have my own skills, but at the end of the day, they are all much bigger than me, much taller than me, much stronger than me.
Do you feel intimidated by players like Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka?
We all have our own biological structure. Some have a higher level of testosterone, some have lower. It’s just natural and that definitely helps. I feel smaller than them. I try to see how I can beat these players with the tennis skills I have, but I have to work harder to win the points. I have to run a lot more than them to win points.
Marta Kostyuk is using the Wilson Ultra V5
How can you bridge that physical gap?
I cannot make myself 10kgs bigger or five centimetres taller, so I have to use everything I had at 100 percent. For other players, they have more of an advantage in other things. This is just the way I am. I look at the photos when we shake hands at the net and I look so much smaller than some of my opponents. It’s just part of the sport and a very cool challenge for me to take on these players. There are many, many things I can do to be better, but they have an advantage on me.
Are these champions mentally stronger?
Their confidence is just different. I have played some close matches against Aryna and you see how she plays the break points. She just doesn’t care. She has no doubt that she will save them. She hits a big serve and hits the forehand. No doubt. She is No 1 in the world, she has played a lot of finals and she has that confidence. That helps her to have no doubts. For me, it is not so easy for me to play without doubt. It is an interesting sport and I’m enjoying the journey of trying to figure it out.
The post Marta Kostyuk interview: Why Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek have a big advantage over me appeared first on Tennis365.
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