The first loss of Svitolina to Russian since the Russian invasion

Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina started at the WTA 500 tournament in Linz, Austria. Her opponent was neutral Russian Anna Blinkova.

The game ended with Blinkova’s victory, according to the portal Novyny.LIVE.

Elina Svitolina — Anna Blinkova — 4:6, 4:6

Svitolina has met Blinkova twice before and defeated her both times. This time, Elina was also a big favorite in the match.

The match lasted 1 hour and 37 minutes, during which Svitolina served two aces, made two double faults, and converted five of 14 break points.

Blinkova served two aces, made five double faults, and converted seven of 14 break points.

It is worth noting that since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Svitolina has won eight matches against Russian representatives and has never lost.

It is worth noting that only Diana Yastremska made it to the quarter-finals of the tournament in Linz.

As a reminder, the promising goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin may become a player of the club from the strongest championship.

Former Dynamo and Latvian national team player Maris Verpakovskis told why he was surprised by Kyiv’s head coach and former teammate Oleksandr Shovkovskyi. 

Dynamo Kyiv said goodbye to goalkeeper Heorhiy Bushchan, who joined Al-Shabab.