Marta Kostyuk dreamed of a French Open title on the back of a 17-match unbeaten run on clay, and with no active Grand Slam winners, she had history within reach. But Mirra Andreeva had other plans as the teenager won 6-1,6-3 to send Kostyuk, who made it to a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time, home. But the loss didn’t diminish her pride in the clay-court campaign.

“For sure, my streak. I take it with me to the grave”, said a happy Kostyuk to the press. “Very happy with my clay court season. Just one loss. I mean, I would never have believed it if someone had told me this a couple of months ago. Yeah, very happy.”

Kostyuk’s unbeaten run began with her win over Magda Linette at the Davis Cup in April. She opened her clay-court campaign on the WTA Tour at Rouen, where she was the top seed, and beat the likes of Diane Parry, Caty McNally, Ann Li, and Veronika Podrez to win the title.

The win streak continued in Madrid as well, where the Ukrainian defeated Jessica Pegula, Linda Noskova, and Anastasia Potapova before dispatching Andreeva in straight sets to clinch her first WTA 1000 title. Confident of her form, she decided to skip the Italian Open and was directly in action at the French Open.

Kostyuk’s clay dominance erased her French Open inconsistency as she won three straight without dropping a set. She won against Oksana Selekhmeteva, Katie Volynets, and Viktorija Golubic in the first three rounds.

Her toughest test came in the fourth round, where she faced four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek, against whom the Ukrainian could not win a single set in the previous three meetings. However, on this occasion, it was a different Kostyuk who won the match 7-5, 6-1. The 17th win of the run came against her compatriot and one of the favorites to win this year’s French Open, Elina Svitolina. In a match where both players had their moments, it was Kostyuk who prevailed 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.

Unfortunately for the Ukrainian, she hit a wall in her match against Mirra Andreeva, offering little resistance to the Russian youngster.

Marta Kostyuk Was Far From Her Best in the Semifinal Against Mirra Andreeva

It seemed like the law of averages had caught up with Marta Kostyuk as she did not have a great start against Mirra Andreeva in the semifinal. The Ukrainian lost her serve three times in the first set, making as many as 17 unforced errors, mostly on her forehand. The windy outdoor conditions affected her rhythm, as seen with Sabalenka earlier in the tournament.

If Kostyuk wished for a comeback in the second set, her game did not rise to the occasion, as she lost her serve once again, falling 1-4 behind. However, this was when the situation seemed to change, as the roof was closed, making the conditions even stiller. It seemed to encourage Kostyuk, who broke back and reduced the margin to 3-4. Andreeva closed out the match as Kostyuk’s unforced errors mounted.

With clay-court heroics now behind her, Kostyuk will hope to take her confidence into the grass season. The Ukrainian will be on the lookout to break into the Top 10, as she currently is at No.12 on the WTA Rankings, which is a career best for her post her performance at Roland Garros.