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6 hours ago
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Elina Svitolina said she had received an outpouring of support from Americans after the US president Donald Trump’s extraordinary clash with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House last month.
Svitolina thanked Americans for their “unwavering support” and “compassion” in a social media post on Sunday after beating Danielle Collins in the third round of Indian Wells. After defeating another local hope Jessica Pegula 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 on Tuesday to move into the quarter-finals, Svitolina told reporters she had received solid support at the tournament in the California desert.
“I feel like since that meeting in the Oval Office, I got a lot of messages of support from the American people and a lot of people here when I arrived at the tournament, giving love and support to Ukrainians for people back at home,” she said. “Also the massive support that I got taking in consideration that I played three American girls back-to-back. It’s amazing, really special to get that, taking into consideration all the stress that all Ukrainians are facing right now back at home.”
After the Ukrainian dropped the first set, she rallied before the weather interrupted proceedings early in the third set. “I got a little bit angry [about losing the first set], a little bit fired up in that second set and tried to play better tennis,” Svitolina said. “I’m really happy with the way I was able to stay composed, even after the rain delay.” Pegula entered the day with a seven-match winning streak that included a tournament title in Austin, Texas.
Svitolina next faces the Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-finals. Ukrainian players have been boycotting the post-match tradition of shaking hands at the net when taking on opponents from Russia and Belarus, which is a staging ground for the invasion.
Earlier, Iga Swiatek walloped Karolina Muchova 6-1, 6-1 to book her place in the last eight, continuing her relentless march through the tournament with another lopsided victory.
The Polish former world No 1 has only dropped six games since arriving at the event and brushed aside her Czech opponent with a near-flawless performancethat included just four errors against a dozen winners while never facing a break point.
“Honestly, sometimes matches can be pretty weird,” Swiatek, the Indian Wells champion in 2022 and 2024, said after the 57-minute victory. “It’s enough for one player to not feel perfect and the other feel great. Then suddenly the difference is much bigger than it usually is. It’s tennis. Things like that can happen. For sure, I used my opportunities and I used my chances. It’s not easy, but, well, I can imagine that it looks like it.”
Swiatek is one of 10 women who have two championships in the Southern California event, and she is aiming to be the first to prevail three times. She got her latest victory out of the way before a rainstorm that paused all action. “I knew this big cloud is coming and probably if I’m not going to finish then I’m going to wait a bit,” Swiatek said. “On [the] last two games, it was a bit slippery already, but I really wanted to finish. So I kind of played more risky – but the shots were still in.”
After waiting through a rain delay, Swiatek took immediate hold of the momentum, sprinting through the first four games and not dropping a first-serve point in the opening set. Muchova, who enjoyed an inspired run to the US Open semi-final last year after recovering from wrist surgery, was unable to find her level in the second set as the mistakes piled up.
Swiatek closed it out in 57 minutes with an unreturnable serve to set up a meeting with either Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen of China or Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk who meet later, weather permitting.
