Elina Svitolina has been beaten by Aryna Sabalenka in a French Open quarter-final played out against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.
Svitolina has won hearts and minds at Roland Garros after a storming run into the second week, only eight months after giving birth to her first child, daughter Skai, and only two months back on tour. The Ukrainian has also taken a stand by refusing to shake hands with Russian or Belarusian opponents due to the invasion. “Can you imagine the guy or girl in the front line looking at me and I am acting like nothing is happening?” she explained.
Having beaten Russia’s Anna Blinkova and Daria Kasatkina, Svitolina today faced the No 2 seed Sabalenka, who has previously voiced support for Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko and refused to answer a journalist’s questions when confronted on her views in Paris last week. But Sabalenka was too powerful, winning 6-4, 6-4.
Elsewhere, men’s favourite Novak Djokovic takes on Russia’s Karen Khachanov before Carlos Alcaraz plays Stefanos Tsitsipas. Follow live scores and updates from the French Open quarter-finals below.
