Marta Kostyuk, the 23-year-old Ukrainian tennis player seeded 15th, defeated Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the 2026 French Open on May 24 at Roland Garros [1, 2, 3, 4]. Selekhmeteva was born in Russia but switched allegiance to Spain shortly before the tournament [1, 2, 3].

Earlier that morning, a Russian missile struck about 100 meters from Kostyuk's parents' home in Kyiv, destroying a building. Her mother, sister, and great-aunt were inside but unharmed [1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8]. Russian forces launched a large-scale wave of missile and drone strikes across Kyiv and Ukraine that day, killing four people and injuring between 83 and 100 others [2, 5, 6, 7, 8].

Kostyuk told reporters the match was among the most difficult of her career due to the emotional strain. She said, "I'm incredibly proud of myself today. I think it was one of the most difficult matches of my career. This morning, 100 meters away from my parents' house, a missile destroyed the building. It was a very difficult morning for me. I didn't know how this match would turn out. I didn't know how I'd handle it" [1]. She added she woke up crying and feeling sick after hearing the news and recalled, "I felt sick just for [the] thought that if it was 100 meters closer, I probably wouldn't have a mom and a sister today" [2, 6, 7, 8].

During her post-match press conference, Kostyuk showed a photo of the destruction near her family home [5, 6]. She said her focus was challenged during the match, with thoughts of the morning's strike weighing on her mind at times [8]. Still, she said she was inspired by the resilience of the Ukrainian people. "My biggest example is Ukrainian people. I looked at all these people who woke up and kept living their life, kept helping people who are in need," Kostyuk said [6].

Kostyuk extended her winning streak on clay to 12 matches, remaining unbeaten on the surface in 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10]. After the match, she did not shake hands with Selekhmeteva, continuing a policy by Ukrainian players not to shake hands with Russian or Belarusian opponents [2, 5, 7].

Kostyuk's next opponent in the second round will be either American Katie Volynets or French player Clara Burel [2, 7].