Ukraine's Elina Svitolina was upset by Russia's Kristina Mladenovic after a hard-fought marathon match in the quarter-finals of the Zhengzhou Open on Friday.

Prior to her game, the world No. 3 shared her thoughts on her current campaign with CGTN's Mike Fox, saying she remained fully focused on finishing 2019 as strongly as possible.

While recalling the loss to Serena Williams at the U.S. Open, the 2018 WTA Finals champ chose to look forward and prepare for defending her title at the end of the year.

"The U.S. Open was a great run. Still it's disappointing, I wish I could play better, but it always happens like this when you want more," said Svitolina. "But you know, there are lots of things I can take from the defeat. And I need to look forward and there is going to be some tough matches in some tough tournaments."

Svitolina said she is happy to see more Ukrainian female players stepping in big tournaments recently and believed her compatriots could continue to fulfill their potential.

"I think for sure we are going to see more and more young girls, hopefully guys too, but girls more step into the game and play really good on the big stage," said the 25-year-old player. "And I can see they have great potential and they just need some time and experience to improve more and go for bigger results."