Ukraine's Elina Svitolina beats Russia's Daria Kasatkina.. then thanks her for anti-war stance
Daily Mail Less than eight months ago Elina Svitolina was giving birth to her first child. Now she is emerging as a standard bearer for Ukrainian sport.
The besieged nation's best-known player last night moved into the French Open quarter-finals when she beat, of all players, Russian No 1 Daria Kasatkina.
There was no handshake after her 6-4, 7-6 victory against the world No 9, although there was some minor mutual acknowledgement. This was a more nuanced encounter than some of the grudge matches that have taken place so far this fortnight.
Of all the players from her country, Kasatkina has been the bravest in expressing anti-war sentiment, publicly at least. Reinforcing that was the presence in her support box of Zemfira, a now France-based Russian singer who has been declared a foreign agent by her government, because of her outspoken opposition to what is happening in Ukraine.
After losing a hard-fought tiebreak 7-5, the Russian player had flicked a quick thumbs up to Svitolina, shook the umpire's hand and then headed to her chair.
