Kostyuk wins French Open match after missile strike near parents' home

Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk won her first-round match at the French Open on Sunday, hours after a Russian missile strike narrowly missed her parents’ home in Kyiv. The 23-year-old 15th seed defeated Oksana Selekhmeteva, a Russian-born player now representing Spain, 6-2, 6-3. The wave of overnight Russian strikes killed four people in the capital and injured at least 83 across Ukraine.

In an emotional on-court interview, Kostyuk fought back tears as she described the morning’s events. “This morning, 100 metres away from my parents house, a missile destroyed the building,” she said. “It was a very difficult morning for me. I didn’t know how this match would turn out for me or how I would handle it. I have been crying this morning.” She added that all her thoughts were with the people of Ukraine and declined to talk about herself, saying her biggest example was the Ukrainian people, who “woke up and kept living their lives, kept helping people who are in need.”

Kostyuk did not shake Selekhmeteva’s hand after the match, following a longstanding practice among Ukrainian players of not shaking hands with Russian or Belarusian opponents since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in...