Elina Svitolina delivered a dominant 6-1, 6-2 victory over world No. 3 Coco Gauff in just 59 minutes during the Australian Open 2026 quarterfinals, advancing to her first semifinal in Melbourne. The 31-year-old Ukrainian extended her perfect 10-0 record for the year and guaranteed a return to the WTA Top 10. Gauff, frustrated by the loss, smashed her racket off-camera but earned A$750,000 in prize money and 430 ranking points.
On January 27, 2026, at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Elina Svitolina showcased aggressive baseline play to dismantle Coco Gauff in the women's singles quarterfinals of the Australian Open. The No. 12 seed struck 12 winners to Gauff's three, won 71% of her first-serve points, and converted key aces to secure a 6-1, 6-2 win without dropping a set in the tournament. This marked Svitolina's fourth Grand Slam semifinal overall and her first at the Australian Open, following a 19th career title in Auckland earlier in 2026. She now levels her head-to-head with Gauff at 2-2, having previously defeated her 6-4, 6-3 in the 2021 second round here. Svitolina's performance, her 24th career Top 5 win and 45th against Top 10 opponents, propels her back into the Top 10 for the first time since October 2021. 'Not bad, not bad at all. Always been my dream to come back in Top 10 after maternity leave, that's always been my goal,' Svitolina said in her on-court interview. She credited evolving her counterpunching style into a more dynamic approach: 'You have to evolve your game. You have to be better.' Gauff, the 21-year-old reigning French Open champion, struggled with five double faults—all in the first set—and 26 unforced errors, including 12 off her forehand. Her second serve won just 18% of points, and she held serve only twice. This was Gauff's second consecutive quarterfinal exit in Melbourne, mirroring last year's loss to Paula Badosa. Post-match, she explained her racket smash as a way to release frustration away from cameras: 'I tried to go somewhere where there are no cameras... Yeah, definitely [it helps]. Let the frustration out.' Gauff remains at 6,423 WTA points but slips to No. 4 in live rankings, with Amanda Anisimova overtaking her. She earned A$750,000 (about US$518,550), up from A$665,000 last year, from the tournament's record A$111.5 million prize pool. Former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki viewed the defeat positively: 'This is gonna be a great learning curve for Coco. She’s still so young, she’ll have so many opportunities.' Svitolina next faces No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who leads their head-to-head 5-1, in the semifinals on January 29.
