How Elina Svitolina Dismantled Coco Gauff

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 27: Elina Svitolina of Ukraine celebrates a point against Coco Gauff of the United States during the Women’s Singles Quarterfinal match on day 10 of the 2026 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 27, 2026 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

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Elina Svitolina played a near-perfect match in her 6-1, 6-2 win over Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

Perfection is what Svitolina’s been in 2026. Svitolina is 10-0 this year, and the way she dismantled Gauff should put Aryna Sabalenka on notice. Svitolina will face Sabalenka in the semifinals. Sabalenka defeated American teen Iva Jovic, 6-3, 6-0.

Svitolina, 31, will return to the Top 10 for the first time since she gave birth to her daughter in 2022.

“Not bad, not bad at all,” Svitolina told the crowd on Rod Laver Arena, in her post-match interview. “Always been my dream to come back in Top 10 after maternity leave, that’s always been my goal.”

Svitolina reaches the semifinals at the Australian Open for the first time. She reached the quarterfinals in 2018, 2019, and 2025.

Against Gauff, Svitolina displayed relentless aggression, attacking the American’s faltering forehand. Gauff had no answers and, at one point, turned to her box, pleading for a strategy.

“I’m I playing wrong,” Gauff asked her team.

What Went Wrong For Coco Gauff

Things went sideways for Gauff early. Despite breaking back to level the first set at 1-1, Gauff served three double faults in her first two service games and trailed 1-3 in 19 minutes. She tried to muster a comeback in the second set, but Svitolina dominated Gauff and elminated the No. 3 seed in 59 minutes.

The usually positive Gauff went negative, lacked energy and seemed bewildered and overwhelmed.

“There was just a lot that didn’t go well today, and I credit it to her, because she forced me to play like just woke up,” Gauff told reporters during the post-match press conference. “Today was a bad day. But, you know, bad days are often caused by your opponent.”

Once a counter-puncher, Svitolina plays a more aggressive style since returning from maternity leave. She pounced on Gauff’s second serve. Gauff won just 18 percent of the points on her second serve. She won only five points on serve in the first set.

Gauff’s movement often exhausts her opponents. However, Svitolina never allowed Gauff to get into a groove. The points were short and sharp—attack, attack, attack.

Meanwhile, Gauff struggled to keep the ball in play. She had only three winners and 26 unforced errors.

After the match, the usually calm Gauff smashed her racket as she headed back to the locker room.

“I mean, she’ll be frustrated about today. It was not a match that she was expecting. She obviously lost pretty badly,” said Carolina Wozniacki, while providing commentary for ESPN. “As an athlete, that’s not the way that you want to get out of a tournament. And honestly, I don’t mind, you know, show your frustration, get it out, move on and go back on the practice court.”

During her post-match press conference, Gauff reflected on her bad day at the office.

“I felt like my match, also at United cup, was very similar, where it was not a good day for me, and I didn’t figure it out. I got lucky to scrap that second set out,” Gauff told reporters. “Some players play well two weeks for the whole time, but there was me just watching Serena play that she would play bad and be able to scrap those out and win the title. So I just need to figure out how to get through those bad days.”

On Monday, Gauff will fall to at least No. 4 in the ranking and Amanda Anisimova will be the highest-ranked American on the WTA Tour. Anisimova and Jessica Pegula are the only Americans left in the women’s draw.

Gauff is the highest-paid female athlete in the world, winning on and off the court. But this loss is a setback. Losing to a red-hot former world No. 3 is not an issue. However, the way Svitolina exposed Gauff’s weaknesses could serve as a blueprint for other players.

Elina Svitolina Faces Aryna Sabalenka In Semifinals

Svitolina will need that aggressive energy against No. 1 Sabalenka, who is also undefeated in 2026. Sabalenka is 5-1 against Svitolina. Sabalenka is 6-6 against Gauff, who won both her Grand Slam titles against the Belarusian.

Svitolina, from Ukraine, refuses to shake hands at the net with any Russian or Belarusian players.

At last year’s Australian Open, a reporter asked Svitolina if she felt she needed to keep people focused on the war.

“Yeah, for sure. I mean, as an athlete, as one of the top athletes of Ukraine, I feel like I should use my platforms, I should use my voice at the maximum that I can to raise awareness, to raise funds for multiple different kind of directions of what our Ukrainian people are in need,” she said. “Yeah, I feel like sometimes people, they forget that there’s still the war, that we still need help. Yeah, just for me very important to show the resilience, to show that I’m here to fight no matter what, and I want to represent this spirit.”

Svitolina faces a tough challenge against Sabalenka. Gauff moves better than Sabalenka. However, Svitolina won’t be able to pick on Sabalenka’s serve or forehand. Instead, Svitolina must draw on a bit more of her counter-punching skills. As Gauff demonstrated in winning the 2025 French Open and 2023 U.S. Open, getting more balls back is enough to frustrate Sabalenka.