Ukraine's Svitolina defeats Russian opponent to reach Australian Open quarterfinals
Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina won her fourth match at the Australian Open on Jan. 20, defeating Russian neutral Veronika Kudermentova.
Svitolina is the only Ukrainian to reach the quarterfinals in Melbourne, Australia. Prior to that, the 30-year-old defeated WTA No. 4 Jasmine Paolini, Romanian Sorana Cirstea, and American Caroline Dolehide.
The match against Kudermetova lasted 1 hour and 23 minutes and ended with a score of 6-4, 6-1 in favor of the Ukrainian. Svitolina served five aces, and made three double faults. The Ukrainian tennis player also converted five out of nine break points.
In the first set, Svitolina was down 1-4 but won the next five games and cruised to victory.
"I was just trying to fight, you know, for this fighting spirit," she said.
"I mean, the only thing I can do when things are not going your way, you just try to really put your head down and get back to work," she added.
The Australian Open quarterfinals is a personal best for Svitolina. She also played at this stage in 2018 and 2019.
"That was a lifetime ago," Svitolina said during an interview after the match.
"You know, so many things happen — having a daughter, Skai, then surgery as well. I’m really pleased with the performance throughout this tournament," she added.
Svitolina will face Madison Keys of the U.S., who defeated Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, in the quarterfinals.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
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