MUTUA MADRID OPEN

April 29, 2026

Marta Kostyuk

Press Conference

M. KOSTYUK/L. Noskova

7-6, 6-0

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on your second WTA 1000 semifinal. What do you think made the difference during the past week here?

MARTA KOSTYUK: Yeah, I think I just take it day by day. I really don't think right now that I'm in semifinals because it's just another match, and these tournaments are really long. So, yeah, I think I just try not to think too far ahead, and just enjoy playing tennis.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. I wanted to ask specifically about one statistic. I saw that on Linda's second serve you won like nearly 83 percent of her second service points. Curious, why do you think that was really effective just on the return?

MARTA KOSTYUK: I don't know, because it was not easy to return her serve. Sometimes she would accelerate it and like change pace. With the wind today and the weird bounces sometimes on clay it was not easy. But, yeah, I just try to put pressure her.

I think it was working really well today also because it was cold, so the ball was not bouncing as much as it usually bounces during the day or when it's warmer. Yeah, I think generally both of us were returning pretty well today. But, yeah, as I said, I think just trying to put her on the move, or just pressure her from the second serve helped to get that stat probably.

Q. Does your dog play with Aryna's dog?

MARTA KOSTYUK: (Laughing). I think they have met once in Indian Wells. I don't remember if they played; maybe like briefly. I don't know. Because they usually walk around with my husband or with my coach around the site, so probably. He plays with all the dogs, and especially the little one. The other one plays with everyone. So he goes, like here in the gym, he goes to all the players who are stretching or warming up, he starts licking their faces. And I'm like, Oh, my gosh. So, yeah, they are playful.

Q. How would you rate where your confidence is at this point, given how you've played over the last few weeks?

MARTA KOSTYUK: You know, I think I've been playing good tennis throughout this whole year. I just had really difficult draw in Indian Wells and Miami. Honestly, after those matches I wasn't that disappointed. I feel like I've built some confidence just by putting in work, and it was not result-related in a way. I don't think I played like amazing in Indian Wells and Miami, but just because I kept working and kept going, I think, you know, it just helps to be as stable as possible emotionally and physically to sustain different situations, whether it's tough losses or just tough days. I think I do that much better than I did it before, so I handle it better. That helps with just overall feeling.

So I don't think that confidence comes from like winning a lot of, you know, matches in a row, for example. I think it's just like a combination of different things. Obviously when you are like No. 1 in the world or No. 2 or No. 3, whatever, like high-ranked player, when you win so many difficult matches, you can rely on different things because of experience as well.

But generally I think the most important thing is you back yourself when you are in tough moments or tough days, and you just go through them.

Q. Is there anything particularly that you've done, or changes you've made mentally in order to sort of maintain that sort of even level and not get too down after tough losses or tough days? Is there a different way you're thinking about things, or is it just getting older and having more perspective?

MARTA KOSTYUK: Well, definitely helping to get older in that sense. But I would say I've done therapy for many years now, and I've always wanted to change my overall perspective on tennis. Because for me it was always very, very emotional, and I would spend just a lot of energy, and everything would matter so much to me. Whether it was wins or losses, it was, you know, very just difficult to live in this constant emotional bombing, you know, from the inside. I think therapy helped a lot, and just being open to dig into uncomfortable stuff.

You know, it's not an easy road, it's a very ugly road, I would say. But I always knew how I wanted to be on the court, how I didn't want to be on the court.

I remember, like we spoke with Sandra yesterday about how, even when I made that final in San Diego, this whole tournament was just a disaster for me mentally. Like I would just destroy myself internally. I told her, like, yeah, I made this final, but I don't want to win this way.

So, for me, winning no matter what, no matter how was not an option for many years now, and I've tried to change that, you know, narrative in my head. And that worked, because, you know, you just, you're more consistent, you just go out there, you do your job, you don't have like emotional attachment to it. Whether you win or lose, you just keep working and keep becoming a better person and a player, and that's it.

Q. Talking about the semifinal, obviously up next is Anastasia Potapova. What do you make of her run as a lucky loser into the semifinal, and just what do you think you need to do to get past her? I think you played actually in Madrid last year.

MARTA KOSTYUK: Yeah, I think she had a good run. I've only watched her match today, I didn't watch any other matches. Yeah, she definitely feels comfortable, looks confident as well. She had a good run in Linz, making finals.

So I think it's going to be a good match. It's first time making semifinals on a 1000 on clay for me, first time for her too. So, you know, it's going to be an interesting match. I'm very excited to go out there and really explore and just enjoy the process of the match because I think it's, like at times it's a roller coaster, but I think it's the beauty of it. I'm excited for this, you know, to really just see how far I can go, what I can do, what I can change with what challenges I'm going to face in the match. I just try to focus on that.

And, you know, I don't think, maybe I've been lucky loser once in my life or something. I've never been lucky with these things, so I don't know how it feels to be a lucky loser. She definitely made a good run out of it.

Q. She's not Russian anymore, she's playing for Austria. Does that affect you at all or, I don't know, in terms of the handshake or anything like that? And does this stuff faze you anymore at this point? Obviously the war's been going on for so long.

MARTA KOSTYUK: Well, the only person that I shake hands with is Daria Kasatkina, because she didn't just change her passport, she also openly said that she doesn't support the war, you know, and all of that stuff. So this is why me and like other girls made the decision to shake hands with her, purely out of respect.

In this case, I mean, there have been multiple players who have changed their nationality, but none of them ever voiced anything against war or, you know, anything to support Ukrainians or whatever. So for me that doesn't change.