Elina Svitolina inspired by husband Gael Monfils as both claim Melbourne upsets

Elina Svitolina revealed she had been inspired by her husband Gael Monfils after the couple both completed thrilling upsets in their respective matches at the Australian Open.

Svitolina staged a brilliant comeback to beat fourth seed Jasmine Paolini 2-6 6-4 6-0 in their third-round meeting.

Her victory on Margaret Court Arena was made all the more sweeter as it came just hours after her spouse Monfils shocked US Open finalist Taylor Fritz, the men’s number four seed.

Speaking in her on-court interview after her win, Svitolina said: “It was a crazy battle today, I would want to say I got inspired after my husband’s win.

“I watched a little bit (of Monfils’ match), of course it was tough to miss. To be fair I played so bad the first set, I’m not sure if I was inspired!

“But after I had to really push through and I’m really happy with the way I came back into the match. I’m really happy with the performance in the end.”

Eva Lys’ whirlwind week at the Australian Open continued as she battled back to defeat Jaqueline Cristian.

The 23-year-old German came from a set down to win 4-6 6-3 6-3 and become the first women’s lucky loser to reach the Australian Open singles fourth round since 1988.

An incredible run started when Lys earned a spot in the tournament with 10 minutes notice for her first-round match and she now faces a last-16 meeting with world number two Iga Swiatek, who thrashed Britain’s Emma Raducanu 6-1 6-0 in the third round.

Lys has never previously gone past the second week of a major tournament and she described the last week as an “insane story”.

“It definitely doesn’t feel real for me right now. I don’t know when the realisation will kick in,” Lys said.

“It’s definitely just an amazing situation to be in, especially knowing that I was lucky loser.

“I think I found a picture of me sleeping the day I got in. I was just trying to spend the time at the venue, trying to do something because I didn’t really know what to do with my time. I was just preparing for my flight the next day.

“It’s definitely an insane story, also for me, how it happened, how fast it happened. It’s been just a couple of days. Those days have totally changed my life. So definitely really thankful.”

Number eight seed Emma Navarro reached the fourth round with a 6-4 3-6 6-4 win over Ons Jabeur and will next face ninth seed Daria Kasatkina following her victory against Yulia Putintseva.

Elena Rybakina overcame injury concerns during her match against Dayana Yastremska to win 6-3 6-4 and will meet Madison Keys in the fourth round after the American saw off her compatriot Danielle Collins 6-4 6-4.

Collins was booed by spectators on arrival at Rod Laver Arena following her comments earlier in the week, where she taunted the crowd during her win over local qualifier Destanee Aiava and declared she loved the dissenters because they are “paying my bills”.

Speaking about the crowd following her defeat, Collins said: “I expected that obviously. That’s fine. Like I said, I really do enjoy playing in these types of environments. It’s what you work so hard for your entire life as a kid. I embraced it.

“I thought overall it was good. It got me fired up at times. It got us into the match and got both of us focused.”