"90% my tiredness played a role" admits Marta Kostyuk after Elena Rybakina thrashing in Stuttgart

Marta Kostyuk remarked that fatigue from the week influenced her defeat against Elena Rybakina in the final of the WTA 500 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. The Ukrainian had a great week, defeating three top-8 players: Marketa Vondrousova (No. 8), Zheng Qinwen (No. 7), and Coco Gauff (No. 3), but fell short in the final against the world No. 4.

From the outset of the match, Rybakina applied pressure on Kostyuk to take advantage with a break in the first game. The 21-year-old won only 50% of her service points and 31% of her return points. In crucial moments, she also lacked efficiency, squandering her three break points while conceding her service four times out of six opportunities Rybakina had.

The Ukrainian reached the final after playing for over 10 hours since her debut on Wednesday, April 17, against Laura Siegemund until the semifinals on Saturday. Kostyuk played for over 2.5 hours on average per day until the showdown with Rybakina, who had a bye in the first round, thus arriving with one less match.

The world No. 27 expressed disappointment with her performance in the final and attributed part of it to fatigue from a long week of competition: "I think 90% my tiredness played a role today. Every morning I didn't know what to expect from myself on the court today, because really me being able to pull off this whole week and play an amazing tennis yesterday was something incredible and something I would never expect I can do," Kostyuk told the media in her post-match press conference.

Nevertheless, the Ukrainian is experiencing a great moment on the WTA Tour. She reached her second WTA 500 final in less than two months, a notable achievement considering she had previously only reached one final in a WTA 250 event, at the Austin Open where she won her only professional title so far.

Kostyuk continues to establish herself as one of the fittest players on tour. The Ukrainian finishes the tournament as the new world No. 21, her best historical ranking, following her recent appearances in tournaments such as the final in the San Diego Open, semifinals in Indian Wells, and now the final in Stuttgart.

The 21-year-old player came close to securing a trophy in 2024 and admitted feeling nervous against the world No. 4 Rybakina: "Today, I was very nervous. I wanted to win a lot this one, and yeah, I think there were a lot of things together. Yeah, I just couldn't probably bear it anymore," Kostyuk said. "When I was on court, it was one point after another, game after game. I really couldn't produce pretty much anything today," she added.