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Svitolina pays wonderful tribute to beaten Kostyuk

Elina Svitolina has paid a wonderful tribute to her teenage compatriot Marta Kostyuk after winning their third-round encounter at the Australian Open.

The No.4 seed Svitolina progressed to the fourth round in Melbourne for the first time with a 6-2 6-2 win over the 15-year-old Kostyuk in an all-Ukrainian encounter on Friday.

The youngster stunned the tennis world with her performances over much more fancied opponents throughout qualifying and the early rounds, including a straight-sets win over No.25 seed Peng Shuai.

Kostyuk fought hard as temperatures inside Rod Laver Arena shot towards 40 degrees but was overpowered by her much more experienced foe.

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A moment to remember for both players. Pic: Getty
A moment to remember for both players. Pic: Getty

While there was a tinge of disappointment for Svitolina in knocking the teenager out of the tournament, she was full of praise for the up-and-coming star.

"It was sad that I was playing against a Ukrainian girl, from the same country, it's always tough to play," Svitolina said.

"She is a great fighter. She always fights until the end and as we could see now she has a bright future.

"Definitely, we're going to hear about her many more (times) in the future."

Svitolina, 23, will face Denisa Allertova in the fourth round as she continues her bid to go deep and potentially become world No.1 for the first time.

Remarkably, she is the only seeded player left in her quarter -- but danger looms if she gets to the semis with No.2 seed Caroline Wozniacki and No.7 seed Jelena Ostapenko among five still in the running.

"It's tough to be seeded," said Svitolina.

"It's not easy because everyone is playing pretty freely against you and you have to be ready for tough matches from the beginning of the tournament."