By Shrivathsa Sridhar
LONDON (Reuters) – Elina Svitolina powered into the Wimbledon quarter-finals with a 6-2 6-1 victory over China’s Wang Xinyu on Monday but the result was secondary for the tearful Ukrainian whose thoughts were on the war back home.
Shortly after setting up a showdown with 2022 champion Elena Rybakina, Svitolina burst into tears in her post-match interview over the news that Ukraine’s main children’s hospital in Kyiv had been hit by missile strikes.
“For sure it was a good performance from my side today. It’s a difficult today for Ukrainian people,” said Svitolina, before breaking down.
The 21st seed, who last year matched her best run at the grasscourt Grand Slam with a run to the semi-finals, wore a black ribbon on her white top on Monday.
“It wasn’t easy to focus today on the match. Since the morning it was difficult to read the news. To go on the court is extremely is tough,” she added.
Russia rained missiles down on cities across Ukraine in broad daylight, killing at least 36 civilians and badly damaging the hospital in the deadliest air strike in months, officials said.
The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had carried out strikes on defence industry targets and aviation bases in Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar; Editing by Alison Williams)
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