Ukrainian top seed Elina Svitolina crashed out of the WTA Monterrey tournament on Friday, losing in three sets to Colombia’s Camila Osorio.
Svitolina — who had vowed to donate all of her prize money from the tournament to the Ukrainian military after the ongoing conflict with Russia — looked to be cruising into the semi-finals after taking the first set 6-1.
But fifth seed Osorio roared back to level before recovering from a double break down to win the third set on a tiebreak to seal a 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) victory.
Svitolina’s exit marked the end of an emotional tournament for the world No. 15.
“I haven’t been sleeping much, trying to see what is happening, how we can help and what we can do,” she told CNN in a video interview from Monterrey earlier this week.
“This has been the worst time of my life because I have my parents, my friends, my Ukrainian people who are fighting there for our country. This has been an extremely, extremely tough time for everyone.”
In other games on Friday, Spanish sixth seed Nuria Parrizas Diaz beat fourth-seeded compatriot Sara Sorribes 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.
Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia meanwhile beat the Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (9/7).
