Kostyuk beats Svitolina in the first all-Ukrainian quarter-final at Roland-Garros… becoming the first Ukrainian woman to reach the semi-finals
Marta Kostyuk (No 15) beat Elina Svitolina (No 7) 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 on Court Philippe-Chatrier. A rematch of the Madrid final, against Mirra Andreeva, awaits in the semi-finals.
Marta Kostyuk, Roland-Garros 2026 | © Ch. Caillaud / PsNewz
Marta Kostyuk, the 15th seed, beat compatriot and seventh seed Elina Svitolina 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Tuesday afternoon to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career, and to become the first Ukrainian woman to reach the semi-finals of Roland-Garros in the Open Era.
It was also the first all-Ukrainian Grand Slam quarter-final at this tournament, the first time in 18 years that a Ukrainian had been one of the four women left at this stage, and the first sign that Kostyuk’s undefeated clay-court run in 2026 – 17 wins, 0 losses – will not be ended by the bracket but by an opponent more dangerous than she has yet faced.
Moving speech for Ukraine
Kostyuk made a very emotional speech on court after the match: “First I want to start with this historical match we played today with Elina. We had a very difficult night again in Ukraine, especially in Kyiv. So many people dead. I want to give this match to Ukrainian people and to their resilience. Thank you. Slava Ukraini.”
“Of course I want to point out Elina and her incredible impact on Ukrainian tennis, on Ukrainians, and on me… And everyone who’s watching.. She’s an unbelievable fighter. I’m so happy to be in the semifinals. But I want to thank her again for this incredible match.”
The contest was the meeting of the two best Ukrainian players on tour at the height of both their careers. Svitolina, 31 years old and the Italian Open champion in Rome two weeks ago, had come to Paris on a nine-match winning streak that she extended to ten with her round-of-16 comeback against Belinda Bencic.
17-0 on clay
Kostyuk, 23 and the Madrid Open champion three weeks before that, had come from the same swing on a 16-match winning streak that had carried her through Iga Świątek in the round of 16 with the loss of seven games. They had played twice in their careers before today, splitting the head-to-head – Svitolina winning the first when Kostyuk was a 15-year-old at the 2018 Australian Open, Kostyuk winning the second at the Toronto WTA 1000 in August 2024. This was their first meeting on clay.
The opening set ran Kostyuk’s way. She broke twice, served crisply on her own deliveries, and took the first set 6-3 in 38 minutes. The second set was the one that suggested the contest might not be the formality that her run-in had implied. Svitolina, the more experienced player at this stage of a major in fourteen previous Slam quarter-finals, raised her depth on return and her court coverage. She broke twice in the second to lead 5-1 and ran out the set 6-2.
The third set was the one that closed the contest. Svitolina lost her serve four times in four attempts. Kostyuk only twice. From 2-2 in this set, she became irresistible and closed the match. “All the credits to her, she picked up a great level” Svitolina said after the match. “I think it was really, really high level throughout the encounter. In a way she maybe played more aggressive towards the third set.”
The win is her 17th in a row on clay, a streak that had begun on the Rouen WTA 250 in April and has since carried her through Madrid (where she beat Mirra Andreeva in the final), through Rome (where she lost in the semi-finals), and now through four rounds of Roland-Garros. It’s also her seventh top-10 win of the season, her 16th of her career, her second in two days. The 15th seed has produced consecutive wins over Świątek (then world No. 3) and Svitolina (world No. 7) at the end of the first week and the start of the second. “She’s playing really high level and deserves all these wins, deserves all the titles”, Svitolina said to the media after the match.
She will face 19-year-old Mirra Andreeva, the eighth seed, in the semi-finals on Thursday. The two have played four times in their careers – Kostyuk leads the head-to-head 3-1, including a Madrid final win two weeks ago. The semi-final brings together Kostyuk’s 17-match clay streak against Andreeva’s 34 wins of the season, the most matches won by any woman on tour in 2026 – a contest the bracket has been building toward since both players began their springs in April.
Roland-GARROS Women’s Singles – Quarterfinals
A.Sabalenka (1) vs D.Shnaider (25)
A.Kalinskaya (22) vs M.Chwalinska
M.Kostyuk (15) – E.Svitolina (7) : 6-3, 2-6, 6-2
M.Andreeva (8) – S.Cirstea (18) : 6-0, 6-3
