Just waking up in the morning, far from home, hoping not to hear heartbreaking news, weighs heavy. It’s a battle through which, over the last four years, players have often found solace in each other.

While Svitolina, the most accomplished of the group and the first player from an independent Ukraine to reach the world’s top 10, acknowledges that the omnipresent heaviness can weigh quietly now after four years of full-scale war, she and her compatriots’ individual pursuits, and triumphs, remain their own united front for a beleaguered nation.

“Taking in consideration the war and everything, what’s happening in our country, I think it’s great inspiration for the younger generation,” Svitolina said. “It shows that it is possible. Especially for girls back in Ukraine, it’s a great example.”

The spring season leading into the year's second Grand Slam event had already signalled something extraordinary was possible. In April, Kostyuk claimed the first all-Ukrainian WTA final in history in Rouen, where she beat Veronika Podrez - a teenager who had never before played a WTA main draw, but quickly showed her promise. Kostyuk then backed it up with her first WTA 1000 trophy in Madrid, where the 23-year-old spoke about freely releasing herself from the weight of once-prodigious expectations since she first broke through on tour at the age of 15. Svitolina completed the Ukrainian sweep by reclaiming the Rome title for a third time, her biggest trophy since her return to tennis as a mother in 2023.

But these headlines bring with them a sobering reality, too: while they entertain, compete, and win, the situation at home is never far away. On the morning of Kostyuk’s first-round match, for example, a missile destroyed a building that she said was 100 metres from her parents’ house in Kyiv. Her mother, sister, and grandmother’s sister were inside at the time, and she said that the otherwise routine 6-2, 6-3 win was “one of the most difficult matches of my career.”

“If it was 100 metres closer, I probably wouldn’t have a mom and a sister today,” she said afterwards.

Their resilience shows in other ways, too. Oliynykova remains, she believes, the only professional player currently living and training inside Ukraine, and her father serves in the war effort. He recently took leave from the military to watch her compete live for the first time in years. And then there is Starodubtseva, who delivered the week’s signature upset, knocking out world No.2 and Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina in the second round, for whom overcoming adversity was always something of a habit.

Turning pro proved too expensive in her teens, so she elected to study in the United States for five years. She has not been back to Ukraine since war broke out, with her hometown occupied by Russian troops, but finds this wave of success is sparking joy in her from the inside.

“Us winning reminds everyone what is going on back at our home too,” she said.

“I actually find it's so cool how Ukrainian girls … are doing so well. I think it's really, really cool how it's like so many Ukrainians playing a final, winning a tournament. Like you see Ukrainian on WTA, Instagram every time. I find it really cool. It's inspiring.”