Roland Garros: ‘Aryna Sabalenka’s defeat changed a lot in Marta Kostyuk’s mind’
Former ATP Tour star Fabrice Santoro has claimed that Aryna Sabalenka’s shock French Open exit impacted Marta Kostyuk’s performance in her loss to Mirra Andreeva.
World No 15 Kostyuk entered her semi-final showdown with world No 8 Andreeva at Roland Garros on a 17-match winning streak on clay.
The 23-year-old Ukrainian delivered stellar performances to defeat third-ranked Iga Swiatek in the fourth round and seventh-ranked Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals.
However, Kostyuk was unable to find her best level against Andreeva as she fell 1-6, 3-6 to the 19-year-old Russian star.
The day before Kostyuk’s defeat, world No 1 Sabalenka collapsed to a 6-3, 5-7, 0-6 loss to world No 23 Diana Shnaider in the quarter-finals.
Sabalenka had been the heavy favourite to win the title heading into the quarter-finals after Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff all failed to reach the last eight.
The Belarusian’s exit led many to predict that the Roland Garros champion would come from the showdown between Kostyuk and Andreeva.
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Andreeva will face 114th-ranked Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska in the championship match in Paris.
Speaking on Prime Video France, Santoro argued Kostyuk was “paralysed” by the opportunity presented by Sabalenka’s loss.
“It’s true that we were expecting a different performance from Marta Kostyuk, but I think — and I want to emphasise this — Sabalenka’s defeat changed a lot in the Ukrainian’s mind,” said the former world No 17.
“She thought to herself, ‘Now I’m the favourite. I’ve never lost to Andreeva, and if I win this semi-final, I’ll be the favourite for the final, especially since I haven’t lost on clay this year.’
“In a way, she thought, ‘I can’t afford to lose anymore.’ All these factors combined completely paralysed her. It’s regrettable.”
In her post-match press conference, Kostyuk said: “For me, usually when I go on court, I don’t feel nervous, I don’t feel more pressure. Maybe before the match, obviously everyone feels more nervous.
“I would say, I don’t care who’s at the other side of the net, I just go out and play the match. Everything that could go her way went her way. Everything that could not go my way didn’t go my way.”
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