Elina Svitolina inspired by husband Gael Monfils as both claim Melbourne upsets
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Elina Svitolina revealed she had been inspired by her husband Gael Monfils after the couple both completed thrilling upsets in their respective matches at the Australian Open. Svitolina staged a brilliant comeback to beat fourth seed Jasmine Paolini 2-6 6-4 6-0 in their third-round meeting.
Her victory on Margaret Court Arena was made all the more sweeter as it came just hours after her spouse Monfils shocked US Open finalist Taylor Fritz, the men’s number four seed. Speaking in her on-court interview after her win, Svitolina said: “It was a crazy battle today, I would want to say I got inspired after my husband’s win.
“I watched a little bit (of Monfils’ match), of course it was tough to miss. To be fair I played so bad the first set, I’m not sure if I was inspired!. “But after I had to really push through and I’m really happy with the way I came back into the match. I’m really happy with the performance in the end.”.
Eva Lys’ whirlwind week at the Australian Open continued as she battled back to defeat Jaqueline Cristian. The 23-year-old German came from a set down to win 4-6 6-3 6-3 and become the first women’s lucky loser to reach the Australian Open singles fourth round since 1988.
An incredible run started when Lys earned a spot in the tournament with 10 minutes notice for her first-round match and she now faces a last-16 meeting with world number two Iga Swiatek, who thrashed Britain’s Emma Raducanu 6-1 6-0 in the third round.
