In a Sunday night battle between two surging players, experience topped youth at Australian Open 2026.
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The win went to Elina Svitolina against Mirra Andreeva, 6-2 6-4, sending the No.12 seed into familiar territory at Melbourne Park.
Svitolina earned a fourth AO quarterfinal and second in a row, pleasing her box that included husband and charismatic men’s pro, Gael Monfils.
“It’s unbelievable,” Svitolina said post-match. “Very, very pleased with the performance tonight. I had to really put up the fight and fight until the very last point. It was an extremely nerve-racking match, and I was very happy with the way I held myself.”
Asked if Monfils’ chilled approach found its way to her, Svitolina replied with a smile, “I was not chilled tonight so he would not be happy, but I think he might be happy with my win today.”
Indeed.
The Ukrainian extended her winning streak to nine matches after bagging the Auckland title, while Adelaide champ Andreeva lost for the first time in 2026.
Svitolina’s start to the season came after the resolute 31-year-old shut down her 2025 campaign last September to refresh. She told reporters this week the move has paid off.
As she has done this whole fortnight, Svitolina capitalised on her opponent’s second serve. The 18-year-old Andreeva tallied just 25 per cent of those points.
You never quite know in a tennis match when turning points might arise. On Sunday night, a key moment seemed to come in the very first game.
Andreeva, the No. 8 seed, crushed a forehand return down the line to open proceedings and later held three straight break points, but all three were saved.
When they faced off the lone other time in Indian Wells last year, Andreeva was the one who saved the first break points, then prevailed in straight sets on the way to the title.
Svitolina duly broke for 3-1 at Rod Laver Arena when Andreeva – who finds herself up at the net more than most in the game – sent a volley long.
Although Andreeva got back on serve, Svitolina re-established her break advantage for 4-2.
Things weren’t going Andreeva’s way, yet she produced magic in the next game, authoring a forehand pass down the line off a nifty backhand slice approach that drew applause from Svitolina.
Two Svitolina drive volleys saved two break points, and with Svitolina’s backhand continuing to do damage, she did not drop another game in the opener.
Andreeva took a bathroom break and came out firing in the second, winning the first 10 points.
An outrageous backhand down the line off a deep return and superb forehand drop shot cross court particularly stood out.
Would Andreeva pull off another comeback, as she did against Olympic silver medallist Donna Vekic in round one?
Crucially, Svitolina managed to avoid trailing by two breaks, hanging on at 0-2, 15-40.
Saving the break points proved important again, then. In the next game, Andreeva lost serve after her forehand with Svitolina completely out of the mix zoomed long.
Andreeva gave her box a sarcastic thumbs-up.
Trailing 4-5, a visibly reeling Andreeva could not hold on.
A 22-shot rally ended with an Andreeva drop shot into the net. A double fault prompted a first match point, which was saved when Andreeva ripped a first serve.
But after Svitolina’s typical hustle earned her a second match point, she produced a forehand winner to end matters, and end Andreeva’s Australian Open in the fourth round for the third consecutive year.
“I was expecting a tough battle and a lot of long rallies,” said Svitolina.
“I was trying just to move my feet extremely well and just be really focused and finding the small holes in her game and trying to use them.”
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If Svitolina defeats Coco Gauff, she would reach a maiden semifinal in Melbourne. Gauff leads their rivalry 2-1, winning the last two in three sets.
Svitolina, though, prevailed in Melbourne in 2021.