"It was not good enough for me": Marta Kostyuk shares her regrets of 2025 season ahead of Wuhan Open

Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk has opened up about her regrets about the 2025 season. The 23-year-old is set to feature in the Wuhan Open, where she will face Karolina Muchova in the round of 64. It will be Kostyuk’s last competition of 2025.

Kostyuk has played 42 matches across various competitions this season, winning 24 and suffering 18 defeats. Kostyuk spoke to Tennis 365 ahead of the Wuhan Ope,n where she talked in detail about how her season went. The reigning world number 26 stated that she is happy with the progress she has made this year on the court, but she has some regrets as well.

Kostyuk stated that she regretted not being able to consistently outplay big-name players, despite putting herself in a strong position while playing against them. Kostyuk stated that she felt like she was ‘hitting the wall’ many times in 2025. Kostyuk identified that losing to top-10 players was tough for her, especially in Grand Slams, when she often felt she was ‘really close’.

“This is my last event of the year and you start to think about all the things that you have done and whether you could have gone better,” said Kostyuk. “This year I had a lot of developments outside of the court with the way I do things and the way I approach life, but I just feel I was hitting the wall many, many times this year. I lost a lot of matches to top ten players, especially in the Grand Slam tournaments. I was going far in every one and I just couldn’t get over the line against these big players.”

She continued by saying: “Most of the time, I was really close and I just feel like as the year come to an end, it has just been frustrating. You know, I’ve had a really consistent year and that is a good sign, but in general, I feel like I missed the last two steps to overcome come these players. You need to show patience and hope that it will come back on your side eventually and I think it is going to happen. So there is a lot of positive from this year, but I had some difficulties with injuries and somehow I found a way to come through and play. Generally it was a good year, but somehow I ended up where I am and it was not good enough for me, for sure.”

Discussing her objectives for the 2026 season, Kostyuk stated that her primary goal will be to win a Grand Slam, something she has been striving for for quite some time. Kostyuk also stated that another one of her goals next year will be to cement a spot in the top ten.  

“The target will always been in the Grand Slams,” said Kostyuk. “That has been my target for some time and I still want to find the consistency and try to end the year in the top ten. I don’t like to set rankings goals as that is just the outcome of your work. I just need to try and make the improvements I need next year to try and go to the next level.”

Kostyuk’s primary objective for the next season, to win a Grand Slam, is an interesting one, considering her lacklustre record in major events. She has featured in the main round of the Grand Slams on 23 occasions in her career, and has only once managed to play beyond the fourth round. That came in 2024 when she was knocked out of the Australian Open after losing in the quarterfinal to America’s Coco Gauff with a score of 7-6, 6-7, 6-2. In 2025, Kostyuk was knocked out in the third round of the Australian Open, the first round of the French Open, the first round at Wimbledon and the fourth round of the US Open.