Just hours after a Russian missile struck near her family home in Kyiv, Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk took to the French Open clay Sunday with images of the nearby destruction fresh in her mind.
The 23-year-old, who advanced to the second round at Roland Garros, said she was overwhelmed with anxiety after receiving pictures of the damage close to the house where her mother, sister and aunt were staying.
"I felt sick just for the thought that if it was 100 meters closer, I probably wouldn’t have a mum and a sister today," Kostyuk told reporters after beating Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-2, 6-3.
"Tennis is a mental game, but today it was something completely different. I didn’t know how my focus was going to be or if I would even be able to control my thoughts." Kostyuk said the strike came during a night of attacks that lasted several hours and left people exhausted and shaken.
Kyiv and surrounding areas were hit with hundreds of drones and missiles in one of the heaviest bombardments of the Ukrainian capital since Russia's invasion four years ago.
