melbourne
Ukrainian player and 28th seed Elina Svitolina reached the Australian Open quarterfinals for the first time in six years by defeating Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 6-1 in the fourth round match at Rod Laver Arena on Monday. Former world number 3 Svitolina created history by becoming the first Ukrainian player to win 100 matches in a Grand Slam. This is the 12th Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career. Now in the quarterfinals, Svitolina will face the winner of the fourth round between sixth seed Elena Rybakina and 19th seed Madison Keys.
There has been no impact on Svitolina’s performance even after becoming a mother. This is her fourth Grand Slam quarterfinal after the birth of daughter Sky in 2022. He had made it to the Australian Open quarterfinals twice in a row in 2018 and 2019.
Last year, Svitolina got off to a great start, but had to withdraw after only three games due to a back injury in the fourth round against Linda Noskova. After this, she struggled with physical problems throughout the season and took a break for foot surgery after the US Open. This tournament is his first after surgery.
Svitolina faced difficulties early in the match as former World No. 9 Kudermetova showed aggressive play and took a 4-1 lead. But Svitolina regained her rhythm and won five consecutive games and won the first set. Svitolina made a spectacular comeback in the second set, taking a 3–1 lead and taking complete control of the match to win in 83 minutes.
