Kostyuk maintains focus amid missile strikes in Ukraine to breeze into second round

[p]The 23-year-old Rouen and Madrid ‌champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/kostyuk-m-8CZqQdSa/selekhmeteva-o-v7vDWRvO/?mid=pbrbPrAT"]extended her winning streak on clay this season to ‌12 matches[/a] but said the result was overshadowed by ‌news of a missile strike near her parents' home in Ukraine earlier on Sunday.[/p][p]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.[/p][p][b]"I'm incredibly proud of myself ​today,"[/b] an emotional [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kostyuk-marta/8CZqQdSa/"]Kostyuk[/a] said during her on-court interview.[/p][p][b]"I think it was one of the most difficult ​matches of my career. This morning, 100 metres away from my parents' house, a missile destroyed a building. It ⁠was a very difficult ​morning for me.[/b][/p][embed guid="ac04ae52-218f-40f3-86be-c533f4737dbf" url="https://x.com/rolandgarros/status/2058501975721800099" social-type="twitter" /][p]"I didn't know how this match would turn out. I didn't know how I'd handle it. I don't want to talk about myself today.[/p][p][b]"I'm very pleased to ‌be in the second round, but all of my thoughts and my heart goes to the people of Ukraine today."[/b][/p][p]Kostyuk, who has been one of the most vocal opponents of the war, said it was important for her to keep going.[/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="d0bb8c37-e4e0-4834-a216-fa5c285f374f" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="985efd6e-8ccd-442b-bfb4-31cbda172068" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b]"My biggest example is the Ukrainian people,"[/b] she added.[/p][p][b]"I woke up in the morning, and I looked at all these people who woke up and kept living their lives, ‌kept helping people who are in need. I knew a ​lot of Ukrainian flags would be here, and ‌a lot of Ukrainian people would come out and support.[/b][/p][p]"My friends from Ukraine came as well. Very happy to have them here."[/p][p]The 15th seed's opponent, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/selekhmeteva-oksana/v7vDWRvO/"]Selekhmeteva[/a], was born in Russia but switched allegiance to Spain ahead of ⁠Roland Garros.[/p][p]Kostyuk faces [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/volynets-katie/vw1oqIPi/"]Katie ⁠Volynets[/a] or [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/burel-clara/4IwCdyAG/"]Clara Burel[/a] ‌next.[/p][embed guid="f017bb9d-d57d-4585-bf0f-f87d793778a9" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aukRVPdXQhI" social-type="youtube" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/tennis/wta-singles/french-open/"]Follow the women's side at the French Open here.[/a][/b][/p]