Elina Svitolina recovered from a sub-par first 20 minutes to charge past Russian Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 6-1 on Monday and reach the last eight of the Australian Open for the third time.
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 quarterfinal at a Grand Slam for the 12th time.
Kudermetova had 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 was by now charged with confidence and soon set up a tie against six-seeded Kazakh Elena Rybakina or American Madison Keys by sending another thunderous backhand winner down the Rod Laver Arena court.
There was no handshake at the net as Svitolina continued the boycott of the post-match tradition that Ukrainian players have maintained when facing Russians and Belarusians since the 2022 invasion of their country.
Svitolina, who has been 7-0 against Russian players since the invasion and wrote the message “the Spirit of Ukraine” on camera before she left the court, last reached the quarterfinal at Melbourne Park in 2019.
Svitolina said she would be at Margaret Court Arena later on Monday to cheer on her husband Gael Monfils in his fourth-round tie against American Ben Shelton.
