 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Ukraine's Elina Svitolina said she feels it is her responsibility to bring her country a "little light" after she charged past Russian Veronika Kudermetova 6-4 6-1 on Monday to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals.
The 30-year-old was 4-1 down in the first set but upped her aggression to rattle off the next five games and put one foot in the last eight at Melbourne for the first time in six years.
Kudermetova had a medical treatment at the end of the first set but could not stop the rot as Svitolina broke for 3-1 in the second stanza with a volley at the net.
The Ukrainian 28th seed was by now charged with confidence and soon set up a tie against American Madison Keys by sending another thunderous backhand winner down the Rod Laver Arena court.
"I was extremely motivated to win today, so that people in Ukraine wake up to good news," Svitolina, who became the first Ukrainian player to win 100 Grand Slam matches, told reporters.
"For me to find a way to win matches, to find a way to bring a little light, a little win for Ukrainian people is something that I feel I am responsible of."
Svitolina is now 7-0 against Russian players since the invasion and wrote the message "the Spirit of Ukraine" on the camera before she left the court.
There was no handshake at the net as she continued the boycott of the post-match tradition which Ukrainian players have maintained when facing Russian and Belarusian opponents since the 2022 invasion of their country.
Svitolina, who booked a quarter-final appearance at a Grand Slam for the 12th time, said she does not see herself shaking hands with Russian players in the future.
"To wake up to the news of when your friends die on the frontline, been killed by Russian soldier, it's something that really, really heavy on my heart," she added.
While Svitolina said she does not prepare differently when facing Russian players she acknowledged that the matches are not the same.
"It's just I feel the spirit is different," she said. "If I'm not going to win, I'm going to almost die on the court: I'm not going to let her win that easy."
Svitolina will play in her third quarter-final in the Melbourne Park major, her first since 2019.
"I feel it was a lifetime ago," she said. "To come back again and again, after the pregnancy, after the surgery, starting from zero, it's not easy, I can tell you."
Svitolina said she would be on Margaret Court Arena later on Monday to cheer on her husband Gael Monfils in his fourth-round tie against American Ben Shelton.
"Playing the way he's playing now is special," she said of the 38-year-old Frenchman.
"We are witnessing something really nice."
