Svitolina hopes for 'a little light'

Elina Svitolina said she hopes her upset of third seed Coco Gauff at the Australian Open yesterday will bring “a little light” to her fellow Ukrainians during a bitter winter under attack by Russia.

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The 31-year-old upset the American Gauff 6-1, 6-2 in Melbourne to set up a semifinal against Belarusian world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka.

Like other Ukrainian players, Svitolina does not shake hands with opponents from Russia and Moscow’s ally Belarus.

“For my country, it’s great,” she said of her sweeping victory over Gauff.

“know that lots of people have been watching, especially the matches that I had before.