Aryna Sabalenka proves too strong for Elina Svitolina at French Open

Elina Svitolina’s run at the French Open came to an end when she was outhit in her highly-charged quarter final against second seed Aryna Sabalenka.

The Ukrainian, ranked 192 in the world after giving birth to her daughter last October, was finally overpowered 6-4 6-4 by her Belarussian opponent.

Watched by husband Gael Monfils, Ukraine’s last representative in the singles bowed out against the Australian Open champion, who has been declining to give press conferences at this tournament.

There was no handshake or remote acknowledgement at the end, with Sabalenka deliberately waiting at the net while her opponent walked straight to her chair. It brought a limited amount of booing as she promptly left the court.

Their match – taking place during lunchtime and watched by a disappointingly small crowd – pitted Svitolina’s ultra reliable baseline game against the shotmaking Sabalenka, who delivers every stroke with a piercing streak.

Sabalenka deliberately waited a the net following her 6-4 6-4 victory on Philippe Chatrier 

But there wasn’t any eye contact or acknowledgement from Svitolina as she walked off court

The first set was very tight until the last game, when the Ukrainian had a short second serve ruthlessly punished on break point.

Svitolina moved ahead for 2-0 in the second, but was soon being overhauled, with her legs perhaps heavy after winning the title in Strasbourg in the week immediately prior to Roland Garros.

Sabalenka now meets Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic and will be strong favourite to make the final.

The Ukrainian shook hands with the umpire but snubbed Sabalenka over the ongoing conflict 

There were some jeers from the crowd after Svitolina ignored Sabalenka after her defeat