Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina crushed Coco Gauff of the USA in just three games in a 59-minute blitz, reaching her fourth career Grand Slam semifinal and her first at the Australian Open. As a result, she will return to the top 10 of the PIF WTA rankings for the first time since October 2021, the Women's Tennis Association reported, writes UNN.
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12th seed Svitolina needed only 59 minutes to extend her winning streak to 10 consecutive matches, defeating 3rd seed Coco Gauff in the Australian Open quarterfinals with a score of 6:1, 6:2. She reached her fourth career Grand Slam semifinal and her first at the Australian Open.
Last September, Svitolina ended her 2025 season early, citing the need to "recover and recharge." The 31-year-old tennis player burst onto the court after her return. Earlier this year in Auckland, she won her 19th career title, and is now on her third-longest winning streak at the tour level in her career (In 2017, she won 15 consecutive matches, and in 2025 – 11 consecutive).
Svitolina lost only one set in 2026 - to Sonay Kartal - in the Auckland quarterfinals. Svitolina was down 5-3 to Kartal in the third set before saving herself with a score of 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-6(5). Now, as stated, she is guaranteed to return to the top 10 of the PIF WTA rankings for the first time since October 2021, according to the rankings to be published next Monday.
"Not bad, not bad at all," Svitolina said in her on-court interview. "I always dreamed of returning to the top 10 after maternity leave, it was always my goal."
Svitolina's victory over Gauff is her 24th career win over a top-5 player. Four of these victories came at Grand Slams, all since her return from maternity leave. She leveled her head-to-head record with Gauff at 2-2, including 2-0 at the Australian Open, defeating the American 6-4, 6-3 in the second round in 2021. Gauff's two wins in the series came in 2024, in the Auckland final and the third round of the US Open – both after losing one set.
The Ukrainian will try to reach her first Grand Slam final against No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka, who also has a 10-match winning streak and leads their head-to-head 5-1 (and 2-0 on outdoor hard courts). Svitolina's only win in the series came in the 2020 Strasbourg semifinals; since then, she has won only one set in four meetings with Sabalenka. Svitolina's previous Grand Slam semifinal losses were to Simona Halep at Wimbledon 2019, Serena Williams at the US Open 2019, and Marketa Vondrousova at Wimbledon 2023.
Svitolina is the second Ukrainian to reach the Australian Open semifinals, after Dayana Yastremska in 2024. If she defeats Sabalenka, she will become the first Ukrainian to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open Era.