TENNIS COURT MY FRONTLINE

UKRAINIAN super-mum Elina Svitolina will take the fight on her tennis “frontline” to Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the French Open quarter-finals today

- NEIL McLEMAN

The former world No.3 only returned to the WTA Tour in April having given birth to a daughter, Skai, in October.

But after winning her first event since 2021 in Strasbourg on the eve of Roland Garros - and donating her prize money to Ukrainian children’s charities - Svitolina has beaten two Russians to reach the last eight in Paris.

Now she faces Australian Open champion Sabalenka, who has not spoken after her previous two victories, claiming she did not feel “safe” when a Ukrainian journalist here questioned her about her views on Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko and the war.

Hostilities between the two nations will resume on Court Philippe-Chatrier today.