Ukrainian Elina Svitolina’s dream run at the French Open ended as Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka kept focus to reach the semi-finals.
Svitolina, playing in her first Grand Slam since giving birth in October, lost 6-4 6-4 on the Paris clay.
There was a tense atmosphere between two women whose nations are on opposing sides of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Sabalenka underlined why she is one of the favourites for the title and will play Karolina Muchova in the last four.
The unseeded Czech reached her first French Open semi-final with a straight-set victory over former finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Svitolina’s run to the quarter-finals has been one of the eye-catching stories of this year’s tournament.
A former world number three, Svitolina is now ranked 192nd as she continues her return from having daughter Skai and surpassed her wildest expectations by reaching the quarter-finals at her first Grand Slam event since.
That, along with the mental strain of the war back home in Ukraine, makes the 28-year-old’s achievements at Roland Garros quite remarkable.
However, it did not stop the Paris crowd booing her for refusing to shake Sabalenka’s hand at the end of the match.
Even though Svitolina beat Russian ninth seed Daria Kasatkina in the previous round, taking on Australian Open champion Sabalenka – who could become the new world number one this week – was a different proposition.
