Svitolina: "Winning a Grand Slam has always been a goal".

Elina Svitolina defeated Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 6-1. Her opponent of the day being Russian, she was asked in the press conference about this rivalry.

She said: "I've played many times against Russian players since the beginning of the war, so it's nothing new for me.

I was extremely motivated to win today, so that the Ukrainian people would wake up to good news, so I'm happy to have accomplished that."

As she and her husband Gaël Monfils are still in contention in Melbourne, she spoke about the possibility of them winning this Grand Slam: "To be honest, that moment is still a long way off, I don't like to talk too much because there are still a lot of matches to play.

It's now that the tournament really begins, because the matches become much more difficult, where you have to face the best, those who really know how to handle these moments because they've already been through it several times.

I feel I have to concentrate and work, not think any differently, but I believe I can do it. For me, winning a Grand Slam has always been a goal, but we're still a long way off."

Svitolina will face Madison Keys in the quarter-finals.