Ukrainian Elina Svitolina and Belarusian Arina Sabalenko eliminated uncomfortable opponents in the 1/8 finals of Roland Garros, and the athletes also talked about the intense duel (in the context of the war in Ukraine), which will take place in the Grand quarter. Slam in Paris.

Svitolina and Sabalenko met twice at the WTA tournament and shared victories: the Ukrainian won in Strasbourg-2020 (6-2, 4-6, 6-4), and the Belarusian won in Wuhan-2018 (6-4, 2-6). , 6-1).

Elina Svitolina and the match with Aryna Sabalenko: “We will give 110% for Ukraine”

Elina, who gave birth in October 2022 and is gradually returning to the elite of women’s tennis (73rd place in the WTA Live ranking), has already defeated two Russian women on Paris soil (although the match with Kasatkina did not have such an emotional charge – Daria criticized the war on orders Vladimir Putin).

Svitolina said that she wants to defeat Sabalenka for her country and set herself a high goal: to win Roland Garros.

“It was important for me to think about each match separately, to have the best mentality without thinking ahead. I feel great in Paris. From the first round, people encouraged me, I am very grateful.

I don’t have the pressure that I had before giving birth, before this break. I still put pressure on myself, but less from the outside.

I played the last two matches against Russian football players, so if it is Sabalenko, it will be the same for me, I will give 110% for Ukraine.

I am now focused on recovery, taking this process very seriously. I know now I have to be careful and very careful. I would love to win a big trophy here, it would be a dream. But I want to focus on the next match” – Elina Svitolina.

• Players whom Svitolina defeated at Roland Garros 2023: Martina Trevisan (24 WTA), Storm Hunter (204 WTA), Anna Blinkova (56 WTA), Daria Kasatkina (9 WTA).

• Elina reached the quarterfinals of the Paris Grand Slam for the fourth time after the 2015, 2017, 2020 tournaments.

Aryna Sabalenko: “We need to be patient in the match against Elina Svitolina”

Sabalenko refused to come to a press conference in Paris (she avoids political questions asked by journalists), but gave an interview to a WTA correspondent.

After explaining how difficult the match against Sloane Stephens was, Arina preceded the meeting with Svitolina.

“Svitolina plays very good tennis here, she moves well. She’s another player who will run a lot and return a lot of balls and I just have to be patient and wait for that perfect shot to complete the point. I have to go with confidence, fight and show my best tennis.

I am very satisfied and happy with my progress. These are difficult conditions for me – the ground is much slower than in Madrid, for example – and I’m very happy that I’m doing well and offering quality tennis.” Aryna Sabalenko.

• Players whom Sabalenko defeated at Roland Garros 2023: Marta Kostyuk (39 WTA), Iryna Shymanovich (214 WTA), Kamilla Rakhimova (82 WTA), Sloane Stevens (30 WTA).

• Reaching the quarterfinals is Aryna’s best performance at the Paris Grand Slam.

The Roland Garros tournament takes place from May 28 to June 11, has a total prize pool of 49.6 million euros, and is the 127th tournament. Iga Sviatek and Rafael Nadal (14-time winner in Paris) became the champions of the title.