Ukrainian women’s Grand Slam highlights 2025: Top 5 stunning victories
Photo: Elina Svitolina reaches the quarterfinals at two of the year’s Grand Slams (Getty Images)
The US Open, which recently concluded in New York, was the last Grand Slam tournament of the year. This provides an opportunity to summarize and highlight the most notable performances of Ukrainian players at the 2025 majors. We compiled a ranking of the five most significant victories by Ukrainian tennis players at the year's top tournaments.
Svitolina's success and Roland Garros records
Honestly, Ukrainian players did not achieve any breakthroughs at the Grand Slams in 2025. Only Svitolina stood out, reaching the quarterfinals at two events – the Australian Open and Roland Garros.
The French tournament also marked new national achievements. For the first time in Grand Slam history, six Ukrainian women (Svitolina, Kostyuk, Yastremska, Kalinina, Starodubtseva, and Sobolieva) qualified for the main draw. Four of them (all except Kostyuk and Sobolieva) won their first-round matches, another first in history.
Top 5 most notable victories
Now let's look at the most impressive wins by Ukrainian players at the 2025 majors.
5. Yulia Starodubtseva vs Anastasia Potapova 7–6, 6–2 (Roland Garros, 2nd round)
The neutral Russian player ranked nearly 50 spots higher than Starodubtseva at the time, and, of course, was considered the clear favorite.
In the first set, Potapova had a set point, but Yulia managed to even the score and then won the tiebreak. The loss broke Potapova's morale, and Starodubtseva confidently finished the match in the second set.
4. Dayana Yastremska vs Diana Shnaider 7–5, 7–5 (Roland Garros, 2nd round)
Yastremska was ranked 48th, while the neutral Russian was 12th. The match began disastrously for the Ukrainian, 0–4. However, she responded with a 5:0 run and secured the set. The second set was more balanced, but Yastremska still emerged victorious.
3. Elina Svitolina vs Jasmine Paolini (Italy) 2–6, 6–4, 6–0 (Australian Open, 3rd round)
Svitolina lost the first set against the world's 4th-ranked player. She improved significantly in the second set and leveled the match. In the final set, she did not allow her opponent to win a single game, claiming a shutout victory.
2. Dayana Yastremska vs Coco Gauff (USA) 7–6, 6–1 (Wimbledon, 1st round)
At the start of Wimbledon, Yastremska knocked out the world's 2nd-ranked player. In the first set, she pressured the American constantly and led 5:2. Gauff forced a tiebreak, but Yastremska dominated 7:3. In the second set, Gauff collapsed mentally, and Yastremska won convincingly.
1. Elina Svitolina vs Jasmine Paolini 4–6, 7–6, 6–1 (Roland Garros, 4th round)
Paolini suffered defeats to Svitolina at two consecutive Grand Slams. We mentioned their challenging match in Australia above, but the Roland Garros encounter was even more intense.
The match showcased Svitolina's outstanding fighting spirit. After losing the first set, she was on the brink of defeat in the second because Paolini had two match points. Svitolina recovered, forced a tiebreak, and despite Paolini earning a third match point, Svitolina won three consecutive points to take the set. She rode the momentum into the third set and secured a convincing victory.
Earlier, we reported the current WTA rankings of Ukrainian players after the 2025 US Open.
We previously wrote about Marta Kostyuk's new achievement in the WTA top 100.
