Svitolina wins for Paolini and a new round of 16 in Melbourne

Members of the Monfils family followed one another around Margaret Court Arena on Saturday.

After Gaël Monfils's magnificent qualification against world number 4 Taylor Fritz, Elina Svitolina, wife of the 38-year-old Frenchman, was also present.

As part of the night session, the Ukrainian also had an interesting match to play against Jasmine Paolini.

The Italian is in the form of her career and was the favorite against the Ukrainian, who has just returned from several months' absence following foot surgery.

The latter missed the first set completely, making a series of unforced errors.
But in the second set, Svitolina, with her solid experience in major tournaments, didn't let up, even if she wasn't feeling her best.

Much better in the exchanges, she was able to take the measure of a Paolini who gradually became unrecognizable in this game.

Last year's double Grand Slam finalist, Jasmine Paolini never found the solution to Svitolina's revolt, and eventually won in three sets (2-6, 6-4, 6-0 in 1h45).

The Ukrainian, who had won her 100th Grand Slam title against Dolehide in the previous round, is now through to the last 16 of the Australian Open for the fifth time in her career after 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2024.

Like her husband, Svitolina eliminated the tournament's number 4 seed and will now challenge Veronika Kudermetova for a place in the quarters.

The Russian disposed of Beatriz Haddad Maia (6-4, 6-2) earlier in the day and has never lost to Svitolina in two meetings.