Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina beats Russia’s Daria Kasatkina.. then thanks her for anti-war stance

Less than eight months ago, Elina Svitolina gave birth to her first child. Now she is emerging as a standard bearer for Ukrainian sport.

The beleaguered country’s best-known player reached the quarterfinals of the French Open last night when she defeated Russia’s No. 1 Daria Kasatkina of all players.

There was no handshake after her 6-4, 7-6 victory against the world number 9, although there was a little mutual recognition. This was a more nuanced encounter than some of the grudge matches that have taken place so far these two weeks.

Of all the players from her country, Kasatkina has been the bravest in expressing anti-war sentiments, at least in public. That was reinforced by the presence in her support box of Zemfira, a now French-based Russian singer who has been declared a foreign agent by her government for her outspoken opposition to what is happening in Ukraine.

After losing a hard-fought tiebreak 7-5, the Russian player gave a quick thumbs up to Svitolina, shook hands with the referee and then went to her seat.

There was a small gesture of reciprocity: “I certainly acknowledged her,” Svitolina said. “I am very grateful for the position she has taken. She’s a really brave person to say it in public, and not so many players did.’

There would probably never be any booing this time due to the lack of formalities, as the winner is married to French player Gael Monfils, with whom she now has a daughter, Skai.

‘I never dared to dream this when I gave birth in October. Now I know what Gael went through all these years and I’m really grateful to the audience,” she said after setting up a potential eighth match against Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka.

Svitolina attributed the long lull surrounding her pregnancy to her being able to attack the tour with renewed enthusiasm: “My mind rested. My body rested in the best possible way, this period really helped me to refresh. When I started training in January, I was extremely motivated. Almost like never before. I start with experience that I have and also with freshness, which allowed me to come back so quickly.’

The past few weeks have exceeded all expectations. Svitolina is a former world number 3, but only returned to the track in April. She is on a nine match winning streak after claiming the WTA title in Strasbourg last week. Her nominal ranking of 192 upset this on paper, but she has long been Ukraine’s best player, of either gender, and better known than Lesia Tsurenko, who plays top seed Iga Swiatek in the fourth round today.

Svitolina defeats Russian No. 1 Daria Kasatkina in straight sets at Roland Garros on Sunday

Potentially, Svitolina could become the story of a tournament that has drawn a lot of attention to tensions between those from Ukraine and those from Russia and Belarus.

She waited for the winner of the evening match between Sabalenka and Sloane Stephens, who will fight out the first women’s match placed in the separately available night session.

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz were within one match of a much-anticipated semi-final as they both took the easiest win in the fourth round.

Alcaraz defeated Lorenzo Musetti, the Italian who knocked out Cam Norrie, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

Djokovic swept little-known Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas aside by the same margin and now takes on Russian powerhouse Karen Khachanov. Both the Serbian and the Spaniard have won 76 games so far in this tournament, the only difference being that Alcaraz dropped a set.

There was no handshake, but Svitolina thanked her opponent for speaking out against the war

Andy Murray will open his grass field campaign at Surbiton on Monday amid more signs he is looking to continue playing into 2024.

The two-time Wimbledon champion is in the process of finalizing a deal that will see Scottish doubles player Jonny O’Mara consistently tour the tour with him as a hitting partner and coaching advisor into next year.

Murray has not played since a tough loss to Stan Wawrinka in a clay-court Challenger event in Bordeaux, which precipitated the decision for him to skip the French Open and focus on grass.

His first opponent in the Lexus Challenger taking place in south west London will be one of the tour’s forgotten men, Korean Hyeon Chung.