NATIONAL BANK OPEN

August 4, 2026

Marta Kostyuk

Press Conference

M. KOSTYUK/K. Sebov

7-6, 6-0

THE MODERATOR: Marta, congratulations. First match since Wimbledon, hard courts. Can you talk us through your preparation as well, and how that came to fruition today.

MARTA KOSTYUK: Yeah, I think it's a great beginning for me. Obviously the first set wasn't easy, but I'm happy to have that type of match coming back, because you kind of pull through difficult moments, you know you can do it.

In the second set I played great, so that's also a good thing from today.

Yeah, excited to be back competing, I missed it. Happy to not practice any more (laughing).

I had good preparation at home and spent some time at home with my family and, you know, just relaxed, tried to relax as much as possible.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. Curious, such strong clay and grass seasons, how excited were you to switch back onto the hard courts?

MARTA KOSTYUK: Honestly, I felt like these changes were so drastic. I never experienced them that much before in my career. Probably because I played a lot on clay, I played a lot on grass, so, you know, it was a new experience for me, definitely.

Coming back on hard court, I felt like I played on hard court like a year ago, you know. I played so many matches in between, so it's interesting.

I'm excited. I love this part of the season. You can see how everyone is starting to get tired, how the quality sometimes drops and, you know, everyone is not that fresh. You try to see how everyone is handling it and, yeah, it's always exciting. I'm happy to be back.

Q. Curious, in that first set, how you were able to just navigate from that slow start, and what maybe went into that slow start? Was it maybe how your opponent was playing, was it the conditions of the court, just curious your thoughts.

MARTA KOSTYUK: So I changed my shoes four days ago (laughing). Very unplanned. Wilson brought a team here with the new Intrigue. I don't even know if I'm allowed to talk about it, but whatever. I love the shoes. They felt much better than the shoes I have played in before.

The idea was to maybe play at the US Open, but the latest tournament to start was Australian Open. But I loved the shoes and I was like, Why not start here. Obviously everyone was happy that I'm doing it.

And then, yeah, these shoes are so good. I mean, I felt really, really fast on the court, really explosive. I felt like, yeah, I was struggling with coordination a lot in the beginning, and I just wasn't sure how to, yeah, handle this speed.

Yeah, also first tournament back, it's on hard court, it's not that easy.

We changed some things as well in the game in these two weeks, so I needed some time to adjust.

Again, happy with second set, for sure, and excited for the next match and next challenge.

Q. You mentioned this part of this year, how it's a condensed schedule, players may not be as fresh or up to their highest level. In what ways do you think you could be successful during this stretch?

MARTA KOSTYUK: I mean, tough to say, because I've never played, I've never had such a good season in my career, so where I am is in new territory for me.

You always try to manage it and handle it the best way you know, then you learn from the mistakes that you do, and then you try to make it better next time that it comes around.

What worked the best for me is definitely not taking it too serious, and try to spend as little emotional and mental energy as possible.

Because, at the end of the day, all of us are good physically. We are all strong and that's almost never an issue, unless you are like getting injured.

But the problem that I feel like players come to is when they start to get tired mentally and you handle difficult moments different. You become irritated more, you're more nervous, you are rushing, and you make impulsive decisions on the court.

It's a complicated process, but I've learned to handle it. You know, I've handled a lot of different things this year already, and I'm very proud of that, and proud of how we handled them together with the team.

I don't know how this year is going to end for me, but, yeah, I will do it to the best of my knowledge and what worked, and then we see how it unfolds.

Q. In the tunnel before the match there was a cute moment when the kid handed you a letter. Just wondering if you had the chance to read that letter, and what do moments like that mean for you on tour?

MARTA KOSTYUK: I didn't open it yet. I was supposed to open it, but I was rushing to go to eat. I have it in my tennis bag.

It was very sweet. And I was so, like, surprised, because, you know, you walk on court with a lot of different kids and you always try to make it a special moment for them.

Then, when he gifted me this, when he took it out, first he couldn't take it out of his pocket because it like barely fit. He gave it to me, and it was very, very sweet.

At the end you're like, Wow, this is like the reason why we actually do it, and it's very fulfilling and I'm happy I got to experience that today.