Elina Svitolina of Ukraine made a stunning comeback to defeat Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 6-1 on Monday, advancing to the Australian Open quarter-finals for the third time in her career. After a slow start and trailing 4-1 in the first set, the 30-year-old Svitolina shifted gears, winning five straight games to take control of the match.
Her aggressive play continued into the second set, where she broke Kudermetova’s serve early and never looked back, sealing the win with a brilliant backhand winner. Svitolina’s victory marks her first quarter-final appearance at the Australian Open since 2019, following a difficult comeback from pregnancy and surgery.
Svitolina, who has maintained an unblemished 7-0 record against Russian players since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, also upheld her boycott of post-match handshakes with Russian and Belarusian players, writing “the Spirit of Ukraine” on the camera as a message of solidarity.
Next, Svitolina will face either sixth-seeded Elena Rybakina or Madison Keys in her quest for a semi-final spot. Later in the day, she cheered on her husband, Gael Monfils, as he prepared to face American Ben Shelton in the fourth round.
