News about Elina Svitolina

What preluded the ill-timed contest was an afternoon and evening filled with prolonged games and upsets at Flushing's Arthur Ashe Stadium. Coco Gauff took three sets and over two hours to beat Elina Svitolina. Meanwhile, Frances Tiafoe took over four hours and five sets to defeat Ben Shelton. The latter wrapped up just before 7pm, but venue staff needed more than an hour to clean and prepare the stadium for the night session. The action resumed at 8.30, over an hour and a half after its scheduled start.

Coco Gauff survived her toughest test yet at this year's US Open as she came back to beat Elina Svitolina 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the third round. Gauff started the match by forcing a deuce from 0-40 on Svitolina's serve - and while she'd go on to lose the game, that series was indicative of the graft she'd go on to show as she kept her US Open defense alive. Svitolina, the world No. 28, was in a Wimbledon quarterfinal just last month and Gauff did well to ride out some moments of turbulence and get stronger as the match went on.

For some athletes, the 2024 Olympics is a bit of a love affair - because they're competing alongside their partners. That's right, a slew of sports stars and their significant others are both going for gold at the Games in Paris. Whether they're fighting for the same team or not, these couples could not be more supportive of one another, and their love stories have captured viewers all across the globe.

MATTHEW LAMBERT AT WIMBLEDON: Twenty-six years after Jana Novotna won the Wimbledon title, and seven years after her death from cancer aged just 49, the woman she mentored is two matches away from following in her footsteps. Barbora Krejcikova grew up in the same town as Novotna, Brno in the Czech Republic, and her enterprising parents simply turned up on the former champion's doorstep. Together, Krejcikova and Novotna built a game of subtlety and guile which Wednesday sent the 28-year-old into her first Wimbledon semi-final with a 6-4, 7-6 win over Jelena Ostapenko.

Elina Svitolina booked her a place in the Wimbledon quarter finals in straight sets on Monday. But throughout the game, the Ukrainian tennis star's mind was elsewhere. 'Wimbledon has become black for me today,' the Odesa-born player wrote afterwards, adding that turning up for the match was 'mentally beyond anything I had ever faced'. Svitolina was competing hours after a Russian missile strike tore through a children's hospital in her homeland, killing dozens of people in the most brutal bombardment of Kyiv for months. She told reporters yesterday that her father had just got back from a couple of weeks in the country visiting her grandmother, who still lives in war-torn Odesa. 'Pretty much everyone is based in Ukraine,' she said.

TAMARA PRENN AT WIMBLEDON: Elina Svitolina spoke of the guilt she feels competing at Wimbledon against the backdrop of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine after defeating Wang Xinyu in straight sets to book her place in the Championships' quarter-finals. The 29-year-old sported a black ribbon pinned to her whites for her fourth-round match in commemoration of the lives lost to a Russian missile strike which targeted a children's hospital in Kyiv on Monday morning. Svitolina was visibly emotional after claiming the 6-2, 6-1 victory, in tears after claiming the 6-2, 6-1 defeat, stating that it had been 'hard to focus' on the match at hand. 

Elina Svitolina broke down in tears after sealing her place in the Wimbledon quarter-finals, admitting she has had a hard time focusing on tennis following a brutal missile strike back in Ukraine. 

TAMARA PRENN AT WIMBLEDON: The world No19 battled past first-round opponent Rebecca Sramakova in dominant fashion, beating the Slovakian in no-nonsense straight sets, but even more eye-catching was her Wilson tennis dress, a simple white dress with a plunging neckline, flared skirt, and a cut-out at the back.

Tennis fans are facing the prospect of spending £5 on water whilst watching their favourite stars in action at Wimbledon this year. For this summer's tournament at SW19 - which begins on July 1 - Evian is offering a scheme which sees punters pay £5 for a QR code which they can stick to their reusable bottles and use at water refill stations. Danone - which owns Evian, Volvic and Harrogate Spring Water - say they want to assess whether there is a demand for refills of cold water from the French Alps, rather than the club's mains-water fountains. It has become the first company to offer such a scheme and if successful it could be introduced to other large events, as well as coffee shops, pubs and even supermarkets. The move comes as large numbers of people continue to avoid drinking tap water and bulk-buy bottles of water at supermarkets, despite growing criticism of single-use plastics.

On Thursday, former world No.1 Ash Barty (pictured left in 2021, and right with husband Garry Kissick) was revealed to be making a stunning return to the court at the All England Club next month - and now the story has taken another, delightful turn.

Britain is famed for its deep-rooted drinking culture across the globe, but its incorporation into the world of sport has often led to moments which some of us would prefer to forget. From tragedy chanting vile taunts at football games, to bust ups with players at Lords and spurring angry rants from disgruntled tennis players, the UK does not have the greatest track record of upholding the spirit of the game. Across the channel, such disregard for sporting etiquette saw crowds at the French Open banned from drinking alcohol on court in a bid to crack down on increasingly raucous behaviour. The move, which makes it the only one of the four Grand Slams to not allow alcohol in the stands, has sparked fears that Wimbledon orgnanisers could do the same following incidents of supposedly drunk fans distracting players in recent years.

Yastremska, 23, started the tournament as a qualifier but has taken over the tournament by storm, defeating Victoria Azarenka and Linda Noskova in the semi-finals. Her morale has soared as she steps away from emulating Emma Raducanu's spectacular journey from qualifier to grand slam champion at the US Open in 2021.

It wasn't supposed to be this way, but the 2024 Australian Open has no plans to stick to a script as a number of matches throughout this year's women singles draw has revealed. Since the tournament began last week, upsets have existed as seed has sprung as seed has been rife, especially after seed fell to unpopular opponents. However, some believed Iga Swiatek would be bulletproof. The Polish superstar - and world No. 1 - seemed almost certain of defeating Aryna Sabalenka last year in a thrilling final at Rod Laver Arena on a peerless match-winning streak.

In the first round, a newlywed pair of Russian professional tennis players both crashed out of the Australian Open. Anastasia Potapova, 22, and Alexander Shevchenko, 23, married in St Petersburg on December 5 after being engaged in September 2023 and having their wedding streamed live on Instagram. Despite the fact that both Potapova and Shevchenko are young in their careers, they are ranked No. 27 and 48 in the women's and men's games respectively.

The Australian Open comes a day early in 2024, with tennis fans taking a day off on Sunday to see how many Australians have won a spot in the Australian Open main draw, who are opponents, and how likely they will progress beyond the first rounds.

MIKE DICKSON IMPACTS MELBOURNE's 2021 US Open brought with it global prominence, many millions in the bank, and, as Emma puts it, 'a backpack of rocks.' Kent's 21-year-old has kept the first two of those in mind, but she hasn't discarded the latter as she enters the Australian Open, her first Grand Slam event for a year. 'I feel a lot better now than I did for a long time after the US Open, because I'm not playing with a backpack of rocks,' she said.

MIKE DICKSON IN MELBOURNE: Positive workout followed by an Australian Open draw that may bring back some happy memories - Emma Raducanu's life is finally looking up for her. Shelby Rogers was the opponent who started Raducanu's life by subsidizing in their US Open fourth-round match, opening the way for her historic run all the way to the title. After Raducanu demonstrated her fitness with a near-two-hour training session against British Lily Miyazaki, they will meet again in the Melbourne first round.

As he was dealt a tough first-round opponent on Thursday, local hope Alex de Minaur (left) will have to be at his best from the start at his home Grand Slam. Daria Saville (right) of Australia will face Magadela Frech (left) to kick off her campaign, with the Pole ranked 72nd in the world.

Just days before the Australian Open, Emma Raducanu has dropped out of a scheduled charity match. Raducanu's first appearance in the Grand Slam tournament in a year after an eight-month injury strained her last year. Last week, the Brit returned to the court in New Zealand, losing in three sets to Elina Svitolina in the second round of the ASB Classic.

Emma Raducanu joined forces with childhood coach Nick Cavaday just a week before the Australian Open begins. The 2021 US Open champion competed with Cavaday as a youth, and this week, she selected the 37-year-old as her mentor for the first major of the season. Raducanu has been without a coach since she left Sebastian Sachs in May, just months after undergoing major knee and ankle surgery last month.

Coco Gauff announced that she is poised to build on her US Open win by winning her first tournament of the season. The 19-year-old American defeated Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 for her ASB Classic in Auckland, repeating her triumph that marked a landmark 2023 for her.

MIKE DICKSON: Emma Raducanu is set to make another change to her coaching with childhood mentor Nick Cavaday off duty at the Australian Open. He is said to have flown to Melbourne to speak with the 2021 US Open champion, who has chosen to participate in a museum exhibition in Kooyong next week rather than a formal WTA tournament. Cavaday, a Kent woman, coached Raducanu as a youth and did some work with her at Roehampton's National Tennis Centre before Christmas.

MIKE DICKSON: Emma Raducanu has now has a good week to look forward to after her ASB Classic in New Zealand, provided that there is no injury hangover. Not only did the 21-year-old actress's quality of play withstand the medical tests on her wrists and ankles, but she also secured a spot in the Australian Open main draw, allowing her to plan ahead. Raducanu was ecstatic with how she competed in the second round in Auckland against Elina Svitolina, arguably the best player not to have won a major championship in recent years. The former US Open champion came within a few points of winning before losing 6-2, 7-6, 6-1, and 6-1 before tiring in the deciding set after her eight-month absence.

MIKE DICKSON: Emma Raducanu told everyone what the fuss was about when she came within a few points of causing a lot of noise in her second match back after eight months. In the second round of the ASB Classic in Auckland, the 21-year-old from Kent pushed Wimbledon semi-finalist and former world number three Elina Svitolina to the limit before succumbing to a 6-4 6-1 loss. Raducanu's tennis skills were on display in the second tiebreak of her first tournament since undergoing wrist and ankle surgery in the spring.