Elina Svitolina says Ukrainian flags in crowd inspired her to victory at Monterrey Open

Elina Svitolina says she was inspired to victory in her second-round match at the Monterrey Open thanks to seeing Ukrainian flags in the crowd. 

Svitolina beat Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova in three sets to progress to the quarter-finals and set up a clash against Colombia’s Camila Osorio. 

The Ukrainian, who is the top seed for this event, almost withdrew from her first-round match against Russia’s Anastasia Potapova. Svitolina stressed she would not compete unless the WTA and ITF ensured players from Russia and Belarus were banned from using national flags or anthems. 

On Tuesday, the international governing bodies of tennis released a joint statement, outlining the sanctions being taken against Russia, including those called for by Svitolina. 

“The WTA and ATP Boards have made the decision to suspend the WTA / ATP combined event, scheduled this October in Moscow,” the statement read. 

“The ITF Board has made the decision to suspend the Russian Tennis Federation and Belarus Tennis Federation membership and to withdraw their entries from all ITF international team competition until further notice. This action follows the cancellation of all ITF tournaments in Russia and Belarus indefinitely.

“At this time, players from Russia and Belarus will continue to be allowed to compete in international tennis events on Tour and at the Grand Slams. However, they will not compete under the name or flag of Russia or Belarus until further notice.”

Consequently, Svitolina played her match against Potapova and thrashed her opponent 6-2 6-1. 

Following her win, the 27-year-old said she was on a ‘mission’ for Ukraine and it appears she was inspired by the support from her home country against Tomova as well. 

In her on-court interview,