Elina Svitolina says she felt extra pressure to deliver a win during her fourth round match against Madison Keys at the US Open on Sunday night.
Gael Monfils, Svitolina’s boyfriend, was in attendance for the match and cheered her on. Svitolina beat Keys 7-5, 6-4 and said in her post-match interview with ESPN that she wanted to win for Monfils’ birthday.
“It’s his birthday today, so I was trying to be really focused on my match. It was extra motivation today,” Svitolina said.
She also said he told her “if you don’t win, don’t come back,” which seemed to be much more of a joke than a threat.
The victory for Svitolina was her 30th career win over a top-10 opponent. She advances to face Johanna Konta in the quarterfinals. Monfils will face Pablo Andujar in the fourth round on the men’s side.
