'It’s a rough road': Marta Kostyuk sympathises with Alexandra Eala after registering thumping Rome Open first-round win

Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk has sympathised with the Philippines’ young tennis sensation Alexandra Eala after her disappointing outing at the Rome Open. The 19-year-old became the talk of the town after her impressive outing at the Miami Open where her journey ended in the semifinals after losing to America’s Jessica Pegula with a score of 7-6, 5-7, 6-3.

Eala’s journey in the ongoing Rome Open proved to be a short one as she lost to Kostyuk in straight sets with a score of 6-0, 6-1. After the match, the Ukrainian tennis star spoke to the media which was quoted by Tennis.com where she sympathised with her rival. Kostyuk was of the opinion that she can understand how tough of a journey Eala is going through, something every young player goes through in their careers.

“I feel sorry for them, to be honest,” she said. “It’s not that I had a bad experience [when I was young]. I’ve had, so far, an amazing career, and I wouldn’t ask for anything more because it’s really been an amazing journey. I just feel like, when you are young, you’re so undeveloped. Your personality is still just building up, and everyone is labeling you something with your game, or your personality and everything. You’re in the middle of all this, whatever’s going on, and you’re trying to find yourself. It’s very easy to lose yourself and obviously, you don’t know what kind of people you should have around you. It’s normal. It’s a part of life and a part of growth, but doing that in a spotlight is always a bigger challenge, and it always has consequences.”

She continued by saying: “I was thinking about it when I was playing my match today, I was like, ‘Wow,’ you know? Like, she’s going to make it. She’s going to be here, around. But it’s just, when you are young and you go through these kinds of days like you had today. Obviously, I could see she was struggling, and she didn’t feel good in these conditions. We all have those days. “But it’s a rough road. I told her at the net, ‘It’s a rough road, but you’ve got it. Just enjoy it,’ because it is. It’s not pleasant when you go onto the court after working so hard and things don’t go your way and you’re trying to figure it all out. You feel everything so much more”