A moment of Marta: Kostyuk stuns 4-Time champ Swiatek, sets up all-Ukrainian QF with Svitolina

PARIS: Marta Kostyuk has taken the long road, but she has chosen her moment well.The 23-year-old world No. 15, unbeaten on clay since April, stunned four-time Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek 7-5, 6-1 to reach the French Open quarterfinals on Sunday, extending her winning streak to 16 matches and ensuring a first-time women's champion in Paris.Kostyuk had not won a set in her three previous meetings with the Pole, yet she arrived on the mighty Court Philippe-Chatrier, not driven by conviction so much as clarity, concentrating on the challenge before her while allowing herself to savour the moment.“I give myself more space. I'm enjoying creating points, dealing with challenges, learning how to navigate difficult situations in matches,” she said. “The biggest thing I do now is, nothing is that big, no one point is that important. There is another one coming, always.”Since backflipping her way into the public consciousness as a 15-year-old at the Australian Open eight years ago, Kostyuk’s career has unfolded in flashes of brilliance. Ranked No. 521 and armed with a qualifying wildcard she earned as the previous year's junior champion at Melbourne Park, she fought through qualifying and reached the third round of the main draw.The breakthrough, however, did not immediately translate into sustained momentum. There were signs of her potential everywhere, a win over 31st seed Daria Kasatkina at the 2020 US Open, a semi-final run at the WTA 500 in Abu Dhabi in 2021, and a first-round victory over former French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza at Roland Garros that same year.In April this year, the Ukrainian delivered the biggest title run of her career. Seeded 26th in Madrid, she defeated Jessica Pegula, Linda Noskova and Mirra Andreeva on her way to a maiden WTA 1000 crown.Kostyuk began playing tennis at five largely to spend more time with her mother, Talina Beiko, a former professional who rose to No. 337 in the world. Beiko guided her daughter's career until the end of 2022, when Kostyuk concluded that to fulfil her potential she needed a different voice. Twelve months later she hired Polish coach Sandra Zaniewska, a move that has coincided with the biggest breakthrough of her career.“It was very difficult (to make that decision). It's your closest person, most of your identity is built on that person's perception of you and your tennis,” she said of her mother, who she’s still very close to. “It took a lot of work. Also, it took me a lot of time to appreciate the time I had with her and be thankful for it.”The 34-year-old Zaniewska has Kostyuk’s back. “These past weeks I’ve had the feeling that she’ll back me no matter what, that is the best feeling you can have as a player,” she said.In the last-eight Kostyuk will play her compatriot, the No.7 seed Elina Svitolina, who rallied to score a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 win over Belinda Bencic.Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar produced another surge of resilience to overturn a two-set deficit and beat countryman Pablo Carreño Busta 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, maintaining a perfect 3-0 record in fifth sets to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final.