Marta Kostyuk: Kid with Lion’s Heart

At just age 15, Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk became the youngest player to reach the Australian Open’s third round in two decades after defeating Olivia Rogowska. This brings the question of when Nigerian’s own celebrated tennis kid, Marylove Edwards will grace the Grand Slam. Kunle Adewale reports

Marta Kostyuk was such a perfectionist when she started playing tennis as a child, she’d blow up in anger if she missed even a single ball. It made tennis completely unenjoyable.

”I always wanted to win, no matter what. If I was losing, it was a tragedy. It was, like, ‘I don’t want to play anymore”, the Ukrainian teenager said.

After beating Olivia Rogowska 6-3, 7-5 to become the youngest player to reach the Australian Open third round in two decades, Kostyuk is finding peace with the ups and downs of the sport. All at the wise old age of 15.

”Now, I start to enjoy it”, she said.

Kostyuk’s performance in Melbourne was remarkable considering just how far she’s come in such a short time. The Australian Open is not only her first Grand Slam, but her first main draw at any WTA-level tournament.

Yet, the bubbly Kostyuk’s game looks more than ready for this moment. Granted a wild card to the qualifying draw after capturing the Australian Open junior title last year, Kostyuk won three matches to earn a spot in the main draw, then upset the No. 25-seeded Chinese veteran Peng Shuai in the first round.

Perhaps an even tougher challenge, she followed that up with a convincing win over Australian wild-card entry Rogowska in front of a partisan crowd at Margaret Court Arena, the No. 2 show court at Melbourne Park.

The stats weren’t pretty – 45 unforced errors to just 22 winners but Kostyuk handled the pressure well. A power player who hits big off both sides, she kept going for her shots even when she misfired.

And misfire she did aplenty. While serving for the match, she clubbed a ball off the frame of her racket that nearly hit a spectator in the crowd. Kostyuk blamed serving into the sun: ”You throw the ball and you hit the sun, actually.”

Kostyuk was an acrobat growing up and was so talented, she placed fourth in the Ukrainian national championships – as a child. But she wanted to spend more time with her mother, a former professional tennis player and now coach, so she gave up acrobatics to focus on tennis at age 11.

Since winning the Australian Open girls title last year, she’s made the jump to the pro level and is represented by a high-profile manager, former world No. 3 Ivan Ljubicic, who currently coaches Roger Federer. The impact on her game has been immediate.

”Ivan is always helping me when he sees me,” she said. ”And Roger, we speak twice. You know, really, like speak. Not like, `Hey, how are you.’ That was nice.”

With her run in Melbourne, Kostyuk has now become the youngest player to reach the third round since Martina Hingis made the quarterfinals at age 15 in 1996.

This has already brought her a great deal of attention-the kind that has proved so difficult for other young players in the past. Part of the reason breakthroughs like Hingis’ are so rare these days is that the WTA Tour has sought to protect teenagers by limiting the number of tournaments they can play. Kostyuk is only eligible to 10 tournaments as a 15 year old.

Even so, young players are still ”hyped a lot,” said one-time Swiss prodigy Belinda Bencic, who was a U.S. Open quarterfinalist at 17.

”When you win one, two matches, everybody focuses on you,” said Bencic, who has since struggled with injuries and lost her second-round match at the Australian Open only two days after an upset win over Venus Williams. ”Suddenly, you’re the one who has to win, which actually shouldn’t be like that.”

Bencic hopes Kostyuk ”keeps enjoying all of this and remembers the feeling how it is when you’re excited first time, first Grand Slam, and to keep it this way.”

Kostyuk was however handed a tennis lesson by Elina Svitolina, who is seeded fourth in the third round.

This raises to the questio: when will a Nigerian grace the Grand Slam?

Nigeria has recorded little success when it comes to tennis. In the country, tennis is still regarded as an elitist sport and no doubt, capital intensive. Little wonder, Nduka Odizor’s fourth round feat at the 1983 Wimbledon is still a reference point, 35 years after the achievement.

However, 13-year old Marylove Edwards looks good to turn things around for Nigeria. With 17 titles in the kitty, both locally and internationally, and headed for the famous America tennis camp (IMG) in Florida, that produced such stars as Andre Agasi, the Williams sisters (Venus and Serena) Marylove sees herself playing her first Tennis Grand Slam in the next three years. Her father, Eddy, projects that the next eight years would see the first African winning a Grand slam title with her daughter.

For Marylove, her father has been the brains behind her success. “My father has been very supportive; he has invested so much in developing me. He hired the services of a coach in the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos to train me, while at home; he spends time to train me daily after school. He has been very encouraging, ensuring that I attain the height I want to as a player. The training kits such as shoes, soft balls, rackets, and sportswear are provided by him. The tennis circuits I have attended have been sponsored by him. My father has been everything to me.”

According to her coach, Kayode Savage, it was as if her development was fast-tracked.

“The level at which she is developing is tremendous and unbelievable. She won her first tournament at eight and we felt that by the time she’s 12 or 14 maybe she will be playing U-12 but she’s already rated eight in Africa; already in the Under- 14. She has great determination and her never say die attitude is one of her greatest strength. Even when she’s down, she keeps fighting on and this is very good considering her age. She trains four to five hours daily,” Salvage said.

With 17 titles in the kitty at a very young age, it is not surprising therefore that Marylove is already targeting playing in a Grand Slam in the next five years.

“Growing up, I always watch the Williams sisters, Maria Sharapova, Novak Djokovic and hoping that one day, I’ll be like one of them and even better their records. So, in the next five years, I hope to have a shot at the Grand Slam,” she said.

Marylove’s dream of becoming a tennis superstar may come to fruition, thanks to the involvement of Temple Management Company, TMC which was magnetised by her ingenuity recently.

“With the partnership with TMC, who are now driving her higher, they have made the project easier. She now participates in tournaments and circuits outside Nigeria. She trains with ease and travelling to tournaments is done on time. In the next five to six years, I do see her participating in World Tennis Association tournaments. We are aiming at the top in the nearest future,” Eddy said.