Draped in Ukrainian flag, Oleksandra Oliynykova storms into Cluj-Napoca semifinals

Oleksandra Oliynykova continued her fairytale run at the Transylvania Open on Thursday, stunning No. 4 seed Wang Xinyu, 6-4, 6-4, to reach her first WTA semifinal.

The Ukranian refugee won her first WTA match in Cluj-Napoca earlier this week and has only looked stronger since then, saving 20 of 22 break points to secure another career milestone in two hours and one minute on Center Court.

“I’m so happy,” an overcome Oliynykova said in her on-court interview, draped in the Ukrainian flag. “For me now, it’s hard to describe what I feel. But for me, it’s so important to be here, to play for my country and to feel so much support. I’m really thankful to all the people here and I really hope to see you in the semifinals.

“I have so many emotions I forgot how to speak!” she added with a laugh.

The 25-year-old has been one of the breakout stories of the 2026 season, serving notice in her Grand Slam debut by pushing defending champion Madison Keys to a first-set tiebreaker at the Australian Open. A visually striking player with an unorthodox game, the tattooed Oliynykova debuted temporary face tattoos in the shape of small bats, in honor of the spooky-themed Transylvanian tournament.

“It’s kind of a celebration of the game for me,” said the 91st-ranked Oliynykova, who is projected to move up 20 spots in the WTA rankings because of this result. “When I was at the US Open, I saw these randomly in some store and I got the idea to put these on for the match. For this tournament, it’s special because it’s thematic and it was my dream to play her. I signed up for this tournament the last year but I didn’t even enter to qualies! For me, it means a lot to play here because of the tournament itself.”

Oliynykova, who goes by “Sashka,” has made the most of this new spotlight to speak out on behalf of Ukraine, which has been under siege from Russian and Belarusian aggression since 2022. She wore a pro-Ukraine shirt to her Australian Open press conference and refused to shake the hand of opponent Anna Bondar after her second-round win in Cluj-Napoca, citing Bondar’s participation in a Russian government-sanctioned exhibition tournament in 2022.

“I’m coming from a country where there is war and you don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring. For me, it’s so important during such hard times in my country, I learned to enjoy every moment, every moment of tennis. In some way, I really celebrate the game. I’m doing this for sport, for tennis.

“I think the key, not only today but in general with the progress I’ve made, it’s tough for me that it be important whether I win or lose. I’m happy to win, of course, and it means a lot, but it’s not the most important thing. I learned to be in the moment and this is probably how I’m making it during this season and the previous season, which was super successful for me.”

Standing between Oliynykova and a first WTA final will be the winner of the quarterfinal match between 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu and Polish qualifier Maja Chwalińska.