Elina Svitolina produced the biggest upset of Australian Open 2026 on Tuesday night by thrashing world No.3 Coco Gauff to move into her first Grand Slam semifinal since the summer of 2023.
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While Gauff struggled with her serve, unforced error count and, early on, even her string tension, Svitolina did everything right to close out a 6-1 6-2 victory that puts her into a fourth major semifinal and her first in Australia at the age of 31.
The American two-time Grand Slam champion looked a little lost under the Rod Laver Arena roof at times, hitting five double faults early in the match as well as 26 unforced errors during just 59 minutes of play.
In contrast, on the other side of the net Svitolina played a perfect match to ease through a 10th victory of the season already ahead of a semifinal against world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, who overpowered young American Iva Jovic earlier on Tuesday.
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After shutting her 2025 season down early, Svitolina now seems to be in the form of her life and has been unbeatable so far in January.
More to come
