Australian Open: Svitolina withdraws from tournament due to back problems, but there will be two Ukrainians in the quarter-finals
22 January 2024 18:18
The main hope of Ukrainian fans at the Australian Open, Ukraine’s top seed Elina Svitolina, was unable to play her match against Czech Republic’s Linda Nosková in the round of 16 due to back problems.
The Ukrainian tennis player called a doctor to the court after the second game of the match (the score was 2-0 in favour of Nosková), but apparently the problem could not be resolved. Having barely endured the pain in the third game, which she also lost, Svitolina stopped playing.
Now, in the quarter-finals, Linda Nosková will meet another Ukrainian, Diana Yastremska, who is ranked 93rd in the world rankings. The day before, Yastremska defeated Victoria Azarenka of Belarus (No. 22) with a score of 0-2 (6-7 (6-8), 4-6).
In addition, another Ukrainian, world No. 37 Marta Kostiuk, reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, defeating Russia’s Maria Timofeeva (No. 170) 2-0 (6-2, 6-1).
In the quarter-finals, Kostiuk will meet American Coco Hauff, who is ranked No. 4 in the world.
Thus, for the first time in history, Ukraine will be represented by two tennis players in the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam tournament.
