Marta Kostyuk and Elina Svitolina gave Ukraine both WTA 1000 clay titles in the spring of 2026. Kostyuk beat Mirra Andreeva in the Madrid final on 2 May, and Svitolina beat Coco Gauff in Rome on 16 May to win the Italian Open for the third time.
Madrid: Kostyuk's breakthrough
Kostyuk arrived at the Madrid Open as the 26th seed but in the best form of her career, having won the clay event in Rouen the week before. She beat Yulia Putintseva, Jessica Pegula 6-1 6-4 and Catherine McNally, then dismissed Linda Noskova 7-6(1) 6-0 in the quarter-finals and Anastasia Potapova 6-2 1-6 6-1 in the semi-finals.
The biggest upset of the fortnight came elsewhere. On 28 April, defending champion and world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka held six match points against Hailey Baptiste in the quarter-finals, five of them with the American serving at 4-5 in the third set, and still lost 2-6 6-2 7-6(6). The defeat ended a 15-match winning streak. Andreeva, the ninth seed, then beat Baptiste in two tie-breaks to reach the final.
The final lasted one hour and 21 minutes. Kostyuk won 6-3 7-5, with Andreeva saving two championship points before the Ukrainian closed it out. Kostyuk celebrated with a backflip on the clay.
It was her first WTA 1000 title, the third title of her career and her 12th straight win on clay in 2026. She became the first Ukrainian to win in Madrid and rose to a career-high No 15. "To win here is incredible," she said, as reported by Tennis Majors. Andreeva climbed to No 7.
Rome: Svitolina beats the top four
In Rome, Svitolina had to go through three of the world's top four. She came from a set down to beat No 2 Elena Rybakina 2-6 6-4 6-4 in the quarter-finals, then beat No 3 Iga Swiatek in three sets the following day. Gauff, the reigning Roland-Garros champion, reached the final for the second year in a row after coming from a set down against Andreeva in the quarter-finals and beating Sorana Cirstea in the semi-finals.
The Italian Open final lasted two hours and 49 minutes. Gauff led 4-2 in the first set before Svitolina won four games in a row to take it 6-4. The American won the second-set tie-break, but Svitolina pulled away in the decider to win it 6-2. Gauff converted only three of 17 break points.
The win brought Svitolina her third Rome title, after 2017 and 2018, and her 20th WTA singles title, making her the first Ukrainian to reach that mark. It was also her 50th win over a top-10 player and kept her record in clay-court finals perfect at 8-0. According to the WTA, she became the oldest player to win at least three titles at the same WTA 1000 event. It was the biggest title of her career since she returned to the tour as a mother in 2023. "Just very proud of the effort," she said. She moved back up to No 7 in the rankings.
How it set up Roland-Garros
The two clay events reshaped the picture before Paris. Sabalenka's early loss in Madrid showed she was beatable on the surface, while Gauff's run to the Rome final confirmed that the title holder was again a contender. Andreeva, despite losing the Madrid final, had shown she could go deep on clay.
That form carried over to Roland-Garros. Kostyuk extended her clay run by beating four-time champion Swiatek in the fourth round and reached the semi-finals, where Mirra Andreeva beat her 6-1 6-3, avenging the Madrid final. Andreeva then beat qualifier Maja Chwalinska 6-3 6-2 on 6 June to win her first Grand Slam title at 19.
Sources
This article was written by TiebreakNews from the reporting below, checked against official results and rankings.
- WTA — Kostyuk breaks through in Madrid for first WTA 1000 title
- Tennis Majors — Kostyuk wins first WTA 1000 title with backflip and a perfect clay record
- WTA — Svitolina wins third Rome title, becomes first Ukrainian with 20 WTA crowns
- Tennis Majors — Svitolina back on top of Rome eight years on, beating world Nos 2, 3 and 4 in four days
- Tennis.com — Elina Svitolina defeats Coco Gauff to win Rome, her biggest title since coming back as a mom