Marta

Kostyuk was overcome with emotion following her historic meeting with Svitolina, which came a day after one of Moscow’s largest assaults on Ukraine in recent months.

She has been vocal in her criticism of Russian players who have failed to denounce the war and, like her compatriots, has maintained a policy of not shaking hands with opponents from Russia and its ally Belarus.

On the apparent reluctance of her Russian counterparts to speak about the war, Kostyuk said: “For me, it’s not frustrating anymore. They are all grown-ups.

“They are clearly aware of what’s going on. If this is something that they want to avoid talking about, they have to live with this, not me.

“I don’t know how you can sleep at night peacefully when you know that this is going on and you have nothing to say about it.”

Asked about facing a Ukrainian player next, Andreeva told the media: “It doesn’t matter who I play. I really try to play against the ball that is coming at me and focus on the game.”

Driven to deliver the title for Ukraine, Kostyuk will head into her semi-final on a 17-match winning streak on the clay this season.

“I still think it [the title] is very far. I have two matches to play and hopefully you will come and support me on Thursday,” Kostyuk told the crowd, who gave her a standing ovation and waved Ukrainian flags.

Asked if she would perform another backflip at Roland Garros, just as she did after beating Andreeva to win the Madrid Open last month, Kostyuk added: “In Madrid I practised the day before the final.

“I don’t need to practise here – I did it a month ago – but I promised I will only do it again when I win a final.”