Watch: Ukrainian star bursts into tears after reaching Wimbledon QF

Elina Svitolina of Ukraine. Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Ukrainian star bursts into tears after reaching Wimbledon quarterfinals

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Jul 9, 2024 7:29 AM ET

Ukraine's Elina Svitolina couldn't hold back her tears after defeating China's Wang Xinyu to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Monday, barely hours after Russia's latest devastating attack on Kyiv.

Russia's missile barrage Monday morning killed at least 41 people, per Reuters, striking down Ukraine's largest children's hospital and other prominent establishments in Kyiv.

During her post-match interview, Svitolina was in no mood to celebrate and admitted it was "not easy to focus" on a game of tennis while her country was in a state of distress.

"It's an incredibly sad day today for all Ukrainians," an emotional Svitolina said. "It was really difficult for me to really be here in a way and do anything. I just wanted to be in my room, just be there with my emotions, with everything."

Bravo, @ElinaSvitolina

After making it to to #WIMBLEDON’s quarterfinals, our ambassador couldn’t hold back emotions. Not because of her win, but due to today’s missile attack on Ukraine

The audience supported her with an ovation. Thank you, Elina! pic.twitter.com/p6yDV4Wzfl
— UNITED24 (@U24_gov_ua) July 8, 2024

The 29-year-old received special approval from the All England Club to wear a black ribbon on her gear to honor her countrymen who were killed in the latest Russian attack.

Typically, organizers of Wimbledon have a strict dress code that precludes competitors from changing their all-white gear. In her post-match news conference, Svitolina thanked the All England club for making a rare exception in her case.

Elina Svitolina with a black ribbon today at Wimbledon....

At least 31 killed & 125 injured in the latest Russia's missile attack on Ukraine (our largest children's medical center Okhmatdyt, Kyiv, our city Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Sloviansk, Pokrovsk and Kramatorsk) this morning pic.twitter.com/mfOTN5ffdn
— Ukrainian Tennis • BTU (@ukrtennis_eng) July 8, 2024

Svitolina will next face 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina in a quarter-final tie on Wednesday. The Ukrainian star made it to the semi-finals of last year's event before losing it to Marketa Vondrousova, the eventual champion.

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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