Ukrainian Svitolina thrashes world No. 3 to reach Australian Open semi-finals for first time

Ukraine's top-ranked tennis player Elina Svitolina (12) thrashed world No. 3 Coco Gauff of the US to reach the Australian Open semi-finals for the first time in her career.

Source: Champion, a sports news platform within Ukrainska Pravda's holding company

Details:The match lasted just 59 minutes and ended 6:1, 6:2.

Australian Open – Grand SlamMelbourne, Australia, hardPrize money: A$43,436,000Quarter-final, 27 JanuaryElina Svitolina (Ukraine) – Coco Gauff (US) 6:1, 6:2

The players met for the fourth time and Svitolina levelled their head-to-head record at 2–2. In the semi-finals, Svitolina will face world No. 1 "neutral" player Aryna Sabalenka.

Svitolina played her 14th Grand Slam quarter-final and reached the semi-finals for the fourth time. At the Australian Open, the Odesa native had previously fallen at the quarter-final stage three times (2018, 2019 and 2025).

Svitolina has remained unbeaten since the start of 2026, winning ten matches in a row. From next week, she will return to the top ten of the world rankings for the first time since 2021.

Svitolina was the only Ukrainian player to progress past the first round of the Australian Open women's singles, beating Spain's Cristina Bucsa (51). In round two she defeated Poland's Linda Klimovičová (134).

In round three, Svitolina beat Russia's Diana Shnaider (22) and in the round of 16 she defeated her compatriot Mirra Andreeva (7).

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