“A victory that tastes of champagne”, is how Marta Kostyuk described her triumph at the 2026 Mutua Madrid Open, the biggest title of her career at the age of 23 and her first WTA 1000. The celebration matched the occasion. The champion dropped to the clay as soon as she sealed the win over Mirra Andreeva before fulfilling her promise by doing a backflip on the Manolo Santana centre court. It is a tradition she has maintained since childhood, when she was one of Ukraine’s best gymnasts.
However, when it comes to acrobatics, the best trick she has pulled off to date has been her tennis in the Spanish capital. In April 2025, Marta Kostyuk arrived at the Mutua Madrid Open with just one win to her name from four editions of the tournament. The Caja Magica never quite suited her style. She simply could not find her feet in Madrid. However, it all changed for her twelve months ago. She arrived with a slight injury –some abdominal discomfort after Stuttgart– and the limitation forced her to play more aggressively, shorten points, and take risks.
It worked. In 2025 she reached the quarter-finals and only eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka could stop her with a gruelling 7-6, 7-6 defeat. This year, she went further. In fact, she did not stop until lifting the trophy. “I always had a really bad record here until last year”, Kostyuk explained after the final. “Winning here is incredible. I wanted to enjoy this match as much as possible, no matter the outcome. I achieved that goal, and winning is just a bonus for me”.
Kostyuk is unable to explain what changed in the Caja Magica, but she does remember the turning point. “I don’t know”, she replied, laughing, when asked about her change of fortunes. “Sandra [Zielinski], my coach, told me today that when we came here for the first time, she didn’t understand why I didn’t like playing here, as the conditions suited my game so well. I’d never seen it that way. Last year, I arrived a bit injured, and that gave me a different perspective on what I needed to do here. It worked really well. I had an incredible quarter-final last year, and this year has been even better”.
The victory also carries deeper meaning for a player who broke onto the tour very early and lived for years with the weight of expectation. Kostyuk admits that for a long time, the great results she achieved as a teenager were almost a burden. “At the start of the year, I told my team that I finally felt that the achievements I had at 15 no longer weighed on me. I spent many years in that state where everyone expected big results. Doing so well so young was almost like a curse. When I freed myself from that weight, I gained the freedom to enjoy this sport and simply play it”.
Her mother, who coached her throughout much of her development, has played an important role in her journey. Kostyuk acknowledged it was not always easy to separate the sporting relationship from the personal one, but she also made it clear that her mother continues to be a fundamental person in her life. “I grew up being coached by my mother. It’s never easy to move away from that relationship, with my mother as the closest person in my life. I always call her when I need support or just want to talk. In fact, I did a little training camp with her before the clay swing, so I definitely should thank her for all the victories I’ve achieved in the past month”. Kostyuk is now a WTA 1000 champion, the winner of the Mutua Madrid Open, and will be ranked 15th in the world on Monday, the highest position of her career.
Although Madrid already held a special place in her career, now it’s even more so: “I used to watch this tournament as a child and remember that year of the blue clay, which seemed crazy to me. Also, all the names who’ve won before me… I never thought this could be possible. It’s one of the strongest tournaments of the year and everyone plays so well. It certainly feels good, but today I just want to enjoy it”.
Kostyuk knows the path that’s brought her here and doesn’t want to stray from it: “I’m a Masters champion now, but I want to keep doing the same, to keep working, and to keep enjoying this journey. It’s about the journey, not the destination”.
In Madrid, her 2026 journey has ended with a victorious backflip.
