Svitolina crushes Gauff to reach Australian Open semis
Elina Svitolina continued her flawless start to the 2026 season, dismantling Coco Gauff in just 59 minutes to storm into the semi-finals of the Australian Open.
The 12th seed extended her winning streak to 10 matches with a commanding 6-1, 6-2 victory over the third-seeded American in the quarter-finals, News.Az reports, citing WTA.
The win sends Svitolina into her fourth career Grand Slam semi-final and her first at the Australian Open.
Svitolina ended her 2025 season early last September, saying she needed time “to heal and recharge.” The 31-year-old has since returned in formidable form. She opened 2026 by claiming her 19th career title in Auckland and is now riding the third-longest tour-level winning streak of her career. Previously, she won 15 consecutive matches in 2017 and put together an 11-match streak in 2025.
So far this season, Svitolina has dropped just one set — against Sonay Kartal in the Auckland quarter-finals. In that match, she trailed 5-3 in the deciding set before battling through a dramatic 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5) escape. As a result of her Australian Open run, Svitolina is now guaranteed to return to the Top 10 of the PIF WTA Rankings next Monday for the first time since October 2021.
Her emphatic win over Gauff marked Svitolina’s 24th career victory over a Top 5 opponent. Four of those wins have come at Grand Slam tournaments, all since her return from maternity leave. The result also levels her head-to-head record with Gauff at 2-2. Svitolina is now 2-0 against the American at the Australian Open, having also beaten her 6-4, 6-3 in the second round in 2021. Gauff’s two victories in the rivalry both came in 2024, in the Auckland final and the third round of the US Open, each time after losing the opening set.
Next, Svitolina will attempt to reach her first Grand Slam final when she faces top seed Aryna Sabalenka. Sabalenka leads their head-to-head series 5-1, including a 2-0 advantage on outdoor hard courts. Svitolina’s lone victory over Sabalenka came in the semi-finals in Strasbourg in 2020, and she has won just one set in their four meetings since.
By Nijat Babayev
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