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Elina Svitolina broke down in tears after she was forced to retire from her Australian Open fourth-round clash against Linda Noskova.
Svitolina booked her place in the Round of 16 of the Melbourne Major following wins over Taylah Preston, Viktorija Tomova and Viktorija Golubic, all in straight sets. Here, she took on Linda Noskova, who triumphed over World No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the third round.
Svitolina was struggling with her fitness during the match and found herself 3-0 down. She took a medical timeout before deciding to retire from the match due to injury.
The Ukrainian was distraught about her Australian Open run coming to an end and was in tears after the untimely end of the match. Noskova, who reached her maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal, hugged Svitolina at the net.
The Czech will next face another Ukrainian in the last eight, Dayana Yastremska, who has also made the last eight at a Grand Slam for the first time in her career. She defeated two-time champion and 18th seed Victoria Azarenka 7-6(6), 6-4.
Elina Svitolina has a 7-2 record so far in 2024
Elina Svitolina has had a good start to the 2024 season, winning seven out of nine matches so far.
The Ukrainian started her season at the ASB Classic in Auckland, where she was the second seed. She started the tournament with a 6-3, 6-3 win over former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki before seeing off Emma Raducanu 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals.
She then thrashed fifth seed Marie Bouzkova 6-0, 6-3 to set up a semifinal clash against Wang Xiyu. Svitolina came back from a set down to defeat the Chinese 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 and reach the final, where her opponent was top seed Coco Gauff. The Ukrainian won the opening set 7-6(4) but the American bounced back to win the next two sets 6-3, 6-3 and win the ASB Classic.
Elina Svitolina's performance at the Australian Open will see her return to the WTA top 20 for the first time since March 2022. As per the Live rankings, she is ranked No. 19.
The Ukrainian is next scheduled to compete in the Upper Austria Ladies Linz event, which starts on January 29. However, it's yet to be seen whether Svitolina will compete in the tournament or not due to her injury in Melbourne.
