Australian Open 2026: Elina Svitolina “brings light” to Ukraine with victory over Coco Gauff

Svitolina ended the 2025 season early, saying she “wasn’t feeling like myself.”

She begins 2026 with a 10-fight win streak, the third-longest of her career. She lost just one set in that sequence and was victorious in Auckland shortly before the first Grand Slam of the year.

“If I kept pushing last year, I think I wouldn’t start here,” Svitolina said. “I would be exhausted, and even unsure that I would recover from the injury.”

“It was important for me to hold back. I have no regrets about taking this time.”

Svitolina will face a difficult task if she wants to achieve further progress. She lost her past four matches with her semi-final opponent, world number one, Aryna Sabalenka.

But Svitolina knows what all her victories in her homeland mean.

She took a break from the game in 2022 due to the emotional stress caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, among other things.

Svitolina wrote in her BBC column in 2024 that many Ukrainians feel people have lost interest in their ongoing battle to repel the invasion. She speaks about the war frequently in her post-match press conferences and often writes a message to her country on the camera lens after victory.

“For my country, it’s great,” Svitolina said after her victory over Gauff. “I know a lot of people were watching, especially the matches I played before.”

“It is very close to my heart to see so much support from Ukrainians. I think it has been one of the most difficult winters for the Ukrainian people.

“I feel it [I] I bring this light, a little light, to the Ukrainian people, and to my friends when they watch my matches.

“It feels great for me.”