“The spirit of Ukraine”: Elina Svitolina storms into Australian Open quarters after she dominates Russian Veronika Kudermetova

Elina Svitolina defeated Russian Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. This marks Svitolina's third appearance in the quarterfinals in Melbourne, and her 12th time making it to the top 8 in a Grand Slam, although she has only reached the semifinals in three of those occasions.

A special win for the Ukrainian, who shared a message of support for her country after defeating the Russian world No. 75. “The spirit of Ukraine,” Svitolina wrote on the camera after her victory. Since the start of the war, Svitolina has maintained a perfect 8-0 record against Russian players.

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In the first set, Kudermetova made it clear she was targeting Svitolina’s forehand, where the Ukrainian showed some early errors. The Russian took the first break in the third game and held her serve well, taking a 3-1 lead.

Svitolina struggled to find her rhythm, and Kudermetova got a second break after 17 minutes, going up 4-1. At that point, the Russian had won 20 of the first 25 points played.

However, Svitolina capitalized on a couple of Kudermetova errors and regained one of the breaks with a stunning passing shot. In the next game, Kudermetova missed a break point, and it was clear from the score and the game that Svitolina was finding her momentum. She broke again to equalize at 4-4.

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From there, Svitolina dominated, winning 5 consecutive games to take the first set 6-4. She capitalized on Kudermetova’s ineffective serving (only 41% of first serves) and took control of a set that seemed to be slipping away.

Serving issues resurfaced for Kudermetova in the second set. The world No. 75 saved a break point in her first service game but could not hold serve again for the rest of the match. Svitolina seized both break opportunities she had in the 4th and 6th games, sealing the victory 6-4, 6-1, and winning 11 of the last 12 games played.

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