Elina Svitolina continues remarkable run by reaching French Open quarter-finals

New mother Elina Svitolina continued her incredible grand slam return by defeating Daria Kasatkina to reach the quarter-finals of the French Open.

The Ukrainian gave birth to daughter Skai in October and played her first tournament in more than a year at the beginning of April.

She arrived in Paris on the back of a WTA title in Strasbourg and, watched by husband Gael Monfils, extended her winning run to eight matches with a 6-4 7-6 (5) success against ninth seed Kasatkina.

"Definitely I wouldn't dream about this when I was giving birth in October last year," said Svitolina.

"It's unbelievable for me to be able to compete here and to get to the quarter-final is special. Hopefully I can push further. I'm really motivated to give my everything for the next matches."

The former world number three, who can match her best ever grand slam run by making the semi-finals, overcame nerves at the end, twice failing to serve it out, before clinching victory in a tie-break.

Svitolina spent four years in the top 10 and is enjoying being able to play without so much expectation, saying: "I think this is one of the things that I noticed that right now I don't have that pressure that I used to have before.

"Of course, me personally I put pressure for myself because I want to win a slam. This is the ultimate goal for me.

"But definitely not the pressure from outside. No one expects that I'm going to come into Roland Garros and make quarter-final at the beginning of the tournament.

"That's why I feel like this really helps me. I feel almost like I'm 17 again coming on the tour fresh. I'm not defending any points. Not here, not next week. I feel more free."

Kasatkina has been the most outspoken Russian player against the invasion of Ukraine and earned