I HAD TO HELP MY PEOPLE

Kids' hospital bombing rocked Elina

UKRAINIAN Elina Svitolina revealed she had to clear the "fog" of war from her head to win her way back to the quarter-finals.

The world No.21 wore a black ribbon on her white kit to commemorate the victims of an overnight Russian missile strike on a children's hospital in Kyiv. At least 31 people have been killed and 150 injured in the attacks across Ukraine.

Svitolina wiped away tears in her courtside interview after beating China's Wang Xinyu on Court 2. "It's a very difficult day today for Ukrainian people," she told the crowd. "Thank you for your support."

And speaking later in her press conference, the former world No.3 admitted: "It was very difficult for me to really be here and do anything. I just wanted to be in my room, just be there with my emotions, with everything.