Kostyuk Hits the Wall: Frustrated by Inability to Defeat Top Players

As of October 7th, 2025, Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk, 23, is finding her 2025 season to be a frustrating one. After winning her maiden WTA title in Austin two years ago and breaking into the top-20 for the first time in her career last year, Kostyuk was hoping to take her game to new heights this season.

However, through 19 tournaments played so far in 2025, Kostyuk has only managed a 26-19 record and is currently ranked No. 26 in the world - the same position she held a year ago. The young Ukrainian admits she "hit the wall many, many times this year" and struggled to get over the line against top-10 players, especially at the Grand Slam level.

Kostyuk's best results this year came at the Australian Open, where she reached the third round, and the US Open, where she made the round-of-16. But she was unable to advance further, losing to the likes of Paula Badosa and Karolina Muchova. Kostyuk also had some solid runs at WTA 1000 events, only to be stopped by the top players like Aryna Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula, Zheng Qinwen, and Elena Rybakina.

Despite describing her year as "consistent," Kostyuk acknowledges that she is exactly where she was 12 months ago, which is "not good enough" for her. As she prepares to wrap up her 2025 season in Wuhan, the Ukrainian is determined to learn from this experience and come back stronger in the new year.