“I always say that I'm not living through this. So I'm not here to give advice or to even relate, and I cannot relate. So I assume that I don't understand. I can only be there and tell her that I support her and that's it,” Zaniewska, who has been coaching Kostyuk for the past three years, told rolandgarros.com.

“I said, ‘Look, I'm here’, that's it. And of course, it was in her head and I was trying to make her laugh a little bit to make it a little bit lighter.”

Kostyuk had a little mascot in Ukrainian colours with her during the warm-up, so Zaniewska took it and put it inside her shirt, near her shoulder, as a sign of support.

“Then I saw that my tennis shoes were in Ukrainian colours as well. So I took them off, I put this mascot in, Marta was laughing, took some pictures and I tried to just make it a little bit lighter,” the Polish coach added.

Kostyuk got through her opener in straight sets and battled through her second round to reach the last-32 in Paris for the first time since 2021.

The No.15 seed enters her third round on Friday against Viktorija Golubic carrying a perfect 13-0 record on clay this swing – a run that included trophy tilts in Rouen and Madrid.

Those titles are the first Kostyuk has won with Zaniewska in her corner – her second and third overall – and they certainly were a long time coming.

Zaniewska did not necessarily expect their clay season to go this well, but she did feel like things were starting to fall into place for Kostyuk and that sooner or later, the results were going to come in a more consistent manner.

“I was in a way waiting a little bit for it to click,” she said.

“I think it's a natural thing that you do the work and you just think that it's going to click at one point, right? And then it's going to work.”

Over the past three years, Zaniewska and Kostyuk have certainly been putting in the work.

The first phase for Kostyuk involved making technical changes to her game, including her serve, forehand and movement.

“At the beginning, I felt like technically she had some things that were obstructing her almost from playing the way that she could play,” Zaniewska explained.

“Now, when it's a little bit free on both wings and also on the serve, it's like she always had the options but now she's able to use them more freely. Because she doesn't make as many mistakes, because it's just fixed, in the way she moves and in the way she swings.”

The second phase was focusing on tactics and gaining a better understanding of her own game – knowing what’s the best way to play at a given moment, “because with so many tools you can get lost very easily,” Zaniewska explained.

Kostyuk has also been doing mental economy training with Dr. Riccardo Ceccarelli, which is a science-based approach to mental training.

Making it happen

All these improvements came together for Kostyuk during this clay swing and Zaniewska jokes that she may have accidentally manifested this winning streak.

“During Billie Jean King Cup week (early April), I gave an interview and they asked me, what would I see for her? What would I want for her this year?” Zaniewska recalls.

“And I said, I would want her to get a title because I feel like this could start a good momentum. And this is literally what happened the week after, right? So, I was like, yes, I have to say more things that I want for her to happen in interviews.”

Zaniewska wanted Kostyuk to play a WTA 250-level tournament like Rouen on clay before playing the other bigger events so she could get in more matches and feel the pressure of being a top seed at an event, rather than being the underdog.

The strategy worked and she hasn’t lost a match since.

A key part of the equation has been the connection between the two and the female perspective and understanding brought by the 34-year-old coach.

Zaniewska pens a thoughtful newsletter on Substack called ‘The Unseen Court’ and Kostyuk is always the first to see it before it even gets published. The newsletter explores the “untold side of performance, growth, and staying true to yourself”.

Kostyuk is a self-described emotional person, and while many coaches saw that as a hindrance to her tennis, Zaniewska has truly embraced the quality in her charge.

“I love it, because I never have to wonder how she feels, she's always going to express it,” the player-turned coach said with a smile.

“I think it's a positive thing. And you have to have the platform and the space to express it with the people that you have the closest, right? Because if they're going to give this to you, then you're going to feel much more comfortable. And you know that all those things, they don't have to kill you.

“Sometimes these emotions are there and you can feel them and go through them and they don't have to take over your life. And I think before, this emotional side would be much more visible because she would sway with those emotions. And now, in a way, I think she's aware that they're there. She knows that they're there. They are present and that's okay. But she can look at them from a little bit of a bigger perspective.”

Perspective is much-needed right now as Kostyuk navigates a new scenario where she is on an impressive unbeaten run and considered one of the main contenders for the Roland-Garros crown.

If she makes it past Golubic on Friday, she could run into four-time champion Iga Swiatek in the last-16.

Moving into contention

For many years, Swiatek was seen as the undisputed favourite at Roland-Garros but over the past year or so, more names have emerged as contenders on the terre battue.

“I think for Marta, I always said it from the very first day I started working with her that I think for her, sky is the limit and we should not limit ourselves,” Zaniewska said.

“On the first day I had an interview with Eurosport Poland and they told me that potentially she has Iga fourth round. So, I wasn't really looking. Marta today (Wednesday), she saw part of the draw when Iga finished the match and they showed the section. So she saw where she's going. But normally we're not looking further than the next one.

“But she's doing good work. She's having fun. It's a great roll. The truth is that no matter where it ends, in what round it ends, it's still going to be an unbelievable roll that she’s having this clay season and we just try to look at it this way.

“But of course, let me say this in an interview to manifest it. I think a Slam would finish this clay season unbelievably well,” Zaniewska added with a laugh.