Elina Svitolina saw her hopes of delivering an emotional title for Ukraine ended by Camila Osorio in a tough quarter-final loss at the Monterrey Open.

Top seed Svitolina wore the yellow and blue colours of her home country, which has come under attack from Russia's military in the past fortnight.

However, the former world number three could not capitalise on a fast start, or a big lead in the deciding set, as she slipped to a 1-6 7-5 7-6 (7-5) defeat in two hours and 33 minutes.

Svitolina held a 4-1 lead in the third set, but 20-year-old Colombian Osorio recovered the double break to edge out the 2020 champion, sealing the win in a deciding tie-break.

That was the third tight three-set battle of the day, with Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia earlier scoring a 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) win over Marie Bouzkova, and Nuria Parrizas Diaz achieving a 6-3 1-6 6-4 victory in an all-Spanish clash with Sara Sorribes Tormo.

Parrizas Dias will face Osorio in Saturday's semi-finals, while Haddad Maia faces a tussle with US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez, who was a late-night 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 winner against China's Wang Qiang.

Former Ukrainian tennis player Sergiy Stakhovsky is "pretty sure" he is on a Russian army target list after leaving his family to take up arms in defence of his country.

Stakhovsky, 36, recently returned to Kyiv to be part of the armed resistance following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The attack started last Thursday and it has continued since, with Ukrainian civilians subsequently arming themselves to fight for their country.

Stakhovsky has been especially active with media duties in the past few days, and as such he believes himself to be a marked man for speaking out against Vladimir Putin and Russia.

But the 36-year-old said he has been driven by a moral compass to fight the Russian forces despite having no formal military training.

He told Stats Perform: "You have to be scared. I mean, if you don't [get] scared then you're stupid, I guess. Then of course, you need to calculate all the circumstances and everything that could come out of it.

"I mean, I'm pretty sure that I'm on a nice list of the Russian army to, not be really – let's say – treated well. But it is what it is.

"Russia is a dictatorship state. If you show resistance, if you show that you don't agree with what they do, if you show that you don't want to have them here, they put you to the ground.

"They don't really argue with you. It's a state which is controlled by one man and the system is so rotten that it just eats up everybody who is not willing, who is actually expressing a different mind.

"So of course, it is scary, it is unpleasant. But... I can be scared in any part of the world. It's not going to change anything."

Stakhovsky, a father of three, felt he had an obligation to return to Kyiv to fight rather than stay with his family.

But he accepts there is only so much Ukrainians can do with the love, prayers and support of the world, urging politicians to do more without selling Ukraine out, convinced surrender will doom many more for speaking out.

"I wouldn't want any father to make that choice [to fight] or to make the decision anytime, anywhere in the world," he continued. "It's something that you don't really want to do. It's not, there's no right choice.

"In this case, I have three kids, which I have to raise, and I have to look after and I want to enjoy them finally, after finishing my career. And instead of that I'm here in Kyiv with a gun and trying to prove a point that Russia is doing the wrong thing.

"Yes, I'm morally right, 100 per cent and all of Ukraine is right. Russia is at fault, but the whole world just seems not to… well, the people of the world they care. They care and they send their appreciation, their love and their prayers and their support, but it's not going to do justice.

"The politicians are the main players in this whole area, and if they don't step up, if they don't save lives – because after all, the most important part in all of it in life is life itself – if they have a chance to save everything starting from tomorrow, they should.

"But they should not on terms that [mean] we give up [in] Ukraine and we save lives [by surrendering], because that's killing lives because then after they surrender Ukraine, the Russian machine will find every single individual who was in the resistance, who was willing to fight, and they will kill him, or put him in prison, they will poison him, they would kill him, it doesn't matter how, but they will find a way to get rid of these people.

"And we're talking about more hundreds and thousands of people. Russia these days is a Soviet Union of the Stalin era. It's a machine which is killing people."

Dayana Yastremska maintained her emotional run at the Lyon Open by beating fifth seed Jasmine Paolini in straight sets to book a semi-final spot. 

The Ukrainian wildcard secured her place in the last four on Friday with a 6-4 7-6 (7-3) victory over the Italian amid the war with Russia in her home country. 

The 21-year-old fled Odessa with her sister last week, separating from her parents in the process, and has spoken about her desire to honour those back in Ukraine with a title. 

She will face second seed Sorana Cirstea after the Romanian made short work of Anna Bondar with a 6-3 6-3 victory. 

Elsewhere, Caroline Garcia toppled another seed after fighting back to beat Alison van Uytvanck 4-6 6-3 7-5. The home favourite knocked out top seed Camila Giorgi in the first round and has a semi-final clash against Zhang Shuai to look forward to. 

Zhang did not have to sweat to make her place after Vitalia Diatchenko was forced to retire at three games down in the first set through injury. 

Ukrainian top seed Elina Svitolina was made to work hard but triumphed in more than two hours against Viktoriya Tomova as she booked her Monterrey Open quarter-final spot on Thursday.

Svitolina won 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-2 over the Bulgarian qualifier in two hours and 24 minutes, having trailed 2-0 in the final set, before rattling off the final six games to set up a last-eight meeting with fifth seed Camila Osorio.

The Ukrainian won the title at Monterrey in 2020, with her victory on Thursday maintaining her unbeaten record at the event.

"It was an extremely tough match today," Svitolina said during her on-court post-match interview. "I think Viktoriya played a really good match, and I had to really fight back in the third set to bring back my best game and try to come back in the match.

"In the end, I managed to win six games in a row, so it's a good effort for me. It was an extremely tough first set, second set didn't go my way, and then the third set I was 0-2 down. I was not playing my best, but I was fighting, until the very end.

"And you know, the Ukrainian flag [in the crowd] really helped me today to fight... I was really fighting until the end, and I found my game in the end."

Last week's beaten WTA Abierto Zapopan finalist Marie Bouzkova maintained her good form with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Petra Martic.

Sixth seed Nuria Parrizas-Diaz won 6-4 7-6 (7-2) over Briton Heather Watson, while Wang Qiang defeated Mayar Sherif 6-0 6-7 (2-7) 6-3.

Dayana Yastremska delivered a polished performance as the Ukrainian kept her "very emotional" run going at the Lyon Open.

The 21-year-old broke serve five times on her way to a 6-2 6-3 victory over Spain's Cristina Bucsa in an hour and five minutes, booking a quarter-final place.

Yastremska fled war-ravaged Ukraine last week, along with sister Ivanna, escaping through Romania but leaving their parents behind in Odessa after Russia's invasion began.

The three-time WTA tournament winner has spoken of the decision by her mother to stay with her father, and how that left the sisters tearful and agonising over when the family might be reunited.

Yastremska began her campaign in Lyon with a gruelling three-set win over Ana Bogdan and followed up impressively by sweeping aside Bucsa.

"Today, definitely it was a little bit easier. With my emotions, I could keep them under control, so I'm very happy with that," Yastremska said in an on-court interview, broadcast on Amazon Prime.

"I tried yesterday to recover myself as fast as possible to prepare for my match today. Still, I was very nervous because I wanted to win the match for my country.

"This tournament is very emotional for me, but I'm very happy with the win today. To be honest I'm very happy that I'm here, that I'm in a safe place with my sister."

The former world number 21, now down at 140 in the WTA rankings, was joined in the last eight by Zhang Shuai of China and France's Caroline Garcia.

Also going through to the quarter-finals on Thursday was Vitalia Diatchenko, a Russian playing under a neutral flag this week. She beat Swiss third seed Viktorija Golubic in three sets.

Leylah Fernandez reached the quarter-finals of the Monterrey Open with a battling three-set win over Qinwen Zheng.

Last year's US Open runner-up came through 6-1 4-6 7-6 (7-3) in two hours and 42 minutes to continue the defence of the title she won last March.

Fernandez won a marathon second game on her eighth break point and consolidated that break with a second to go 5-1 ahead in a one-sided first set.

She served out the opener at the third time of asking, but Zheng was beginning to find her feet in the contest and threatened the Fernandez serve early in the second set.

Zheng's first break points finally came at 5-4 and she took her chance to level the contest against the 19-year-old.

But Fernandez outlasted Zheng in a tense decider that went the distance after both players held serve, the second seed aggressively attacking her opponent to take the tie-break 7-3.

Fifth seed Camila Osorio ended the challenge of home hope Marcela Zacarias, meanwhile, the Colombian winning 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.

She will next face either top seed Elina Svitolina or Viktoriya Tomova in the last eight.

Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia was a 6-2 6-2 winner against Xinyu Wang and will contest a quarter-final against either Marie Bouzkova or Petra Martic.

Sara Sorribes Tormo was also a straight-sets winner in Wednesday's action, the fourth seed easing past Harmony Tan 6-2 6-2. 

Viktorija Golubic came from a set down to beat lucky loser Mai Hontama and move into the second round of the Lyon Open on Wednesday.

Third seed Golubic was given the run-around by Hontama in the first set before fighting back to win 1-6 6-4 6-4.

Golubic had to dig deep to secure a meeting with Vitalia Diatchenko, who beat Anna-Lena Friedsam, as Hontama's deft drop shots had given her a scent of pulling off an upset.

The Swiss broke six times and saved six break points, wrapping up a well-earned victory in two hours and 10 minutes.

Golubic's compatriot Stefanie Voegele bowed out at the second-round stage, losing 6-3 7-5 to second seed Sorana Cirstea.

Anna Bondar reached the quarter-finals when Katie Boulter retired due to injury after losing the first set 6-3.

Alison Van Uytvanck won the final match of the day, getting the better of Varvara Gracheva 6-2 6-4 to advance to the last eight.

Elina Svitolina said she "was on a mission" for Ukraine after earning a straight-sets win over Russian opponent Anastasia Potapova in the opening round of the Monterrey Open.

The top seed donned the yellow and blue colours of her homeland for Tuesday's match and eased to a 6-2 6-1 victory in a little over an hour in Mexico.

Svitolina only agreed to play her opener after tennis authorities announced a ban on Russian and Belarussian players competing under the name and flags of their countries.

And as Russia's invasion of Ukraine entered its sixth day, the 27-year-old produced an impressive performance that saw her win 73.5 per cent of her first-serve points.

Former world number three Svitolina, who will now face Bulgarian qualifier Viktoriya Tomova, had previously announced she will donate her prize money to the Ukrainian army.

"It's a special one because of what we are going through right now in Ukraine, it's terrifying," Svitolina told reporters. 

"It's been six days and all the Ukrainian tennis players and Ukrainians who are there, we have been really terrified with what is happening.

"For me, playing the match here, I'm not playing only for myself. I'm playing for my country, I'm playing for the help of the Ukrainian army and people in need. 

"I was focused. I was on a mission for my country. From the beginning, it was important to be ready for anything that comes my way."

Petra Martic is also through to round two after recovering from behind to beat third seed Madison Keys 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.

Marie Bouzkova awaits following the world number 81's 4-6 6-2 6-4 win against Sara Errani. Number eight seed Ann Li's participation in the tournament came to an end with a 6-2 6-1 loss to Wang Xinyu, who will now face Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia.

Novak Djokovic has confirmed his professional partnership with long-time coach Marian Vajda has come to an end.

Djokovic revealed the pair agreed to part ways last year following the ATP Finals in Turin.

Vajda served as part of Djokovic's team for 15 years, playing a pivotal role in the 20-time grand slam champion's glittering career.

"Marian has been by my side during the most important and memorable moments in my career," Djokovic said in a post on his official website.

"Together we have achieved some incredible things and I am very grateful for his friendship and dedication over the last 15 years.

"While he might be leaving the professional team he will always be family and I can't thank him enough for all he has done."

Vajda said: "During my time with Novak, I have been lucky to watch him transform into the player he is today.

"I will look back on our time together with immense pride and am so very thankful for the success we have achieved.

"I remain his biggest support on and off the court and look forward to new challenges."

Vajda was joined on Djokovic's team by former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic in 2019. Ivanisevic will continue working with Djokovic as he bids to add to his tally of major triumphs.

Djokovic, who is unvaccinated against COVID-19, missed the 2022 Australian Open after having his visa cancelled on "health and good order grounds", leading to his deportation.

Rafael Nadal's triumph in Melbourne gave the Spaniard the outright record for grand slam triumphs with 21.

Djokovic made his 2022 debut in Dubai last month, losing in the quarter-finals to Jiri Vesely. On Monday, he was usurped as world number one by Daniil Medvedev.

Russian and Belarusian players, including ATP world number one Daniil Medvedev, will still be able to compete on the Tours and at grand slams, but the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has suspended the countries' teams.

Russia's Medvedev was only crowned world number one for the first time on Monday, though that success came amid the backdrop of an ongoing conflict between his nation and Ukraine.

To widespread international condemnation, Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday, with that conflict since escalating further. Belarus, meanwhile, was effectively used as a staging post for part of the invasion force, though Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has insisted the nation's military did not and will not play any part in any operation.

Governments and organisations around the world, including governing bodies within sport, have responded with strict sanctions against Russia and certain individuals with links to president Vladimir Putin.

On Tuesday, the governing bodies of tennis (the ITF, ATP, WTA and the four grand slam events) announced sanctions of their own.

While Medvedev and other Russian and Belarusian players, including Andrey Rublev and WTA world number three Aryna Sabalenka, will be allowed to play in tournaments on both the men's and women's Tours, and the four grand slams, they will have to compete under neutral banners, with the flags of each country banned.

However, the WTA and ATP combined event in Moscow, scheduled to take place in October, has been suspended.

Meanwhile, Russia and Belarus have had their memberships of the ITF revoked, while all ITF tournaments set to be held in those countries have been suspended indefinitely.

Russia hold both the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup.

The immediate upshot of the decision is that Elina Svitolina, the Ukrainian who is top seed at the Monterrey Open, will play her first-round match against Anastasia Potapova on Monday.

Svitolina said earlier in the day that she would refuse to play against any Russian or Belarusian opponent unless all national emblems, flags and colours were removed.

However, prior to the joint announcement from tennis' governing bodies, Svitolina told ITV News: "There's been a lot of discussion.

"Today they will release a statement that they will remove the flags. So we are waiting just for the final confirmation about that. I will be playing tonight because my opponent is going to be under a neutral flag."

Svitolina has pledged to donate all of her prize money from upcoming tournaments to assist Ukraine's fight against Russia.

The statement from tennis' governing bodies read: "A deep sense of distress, shock and sadness has been felt across the entire tennis community following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in the past week.

"Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine, and we commend the many tennis players who have spoken out and taken action against this unacceptable act of aggression. We echo their calls for the violence to end and peace to return.

"The safety of the tennis community is our most immediate collective priority. The focus of the WTA and ATP in particular in recent days has been on contacting current and former players, and other members of the tennis community from Ukraine and neighbouring countries, to check on their safety and offer any assistance."

Top seed Camila Giorgi was beaten in three sets by Caroline Garcia at the Lyon Open on Tuesday.

Italian Giorgi battled to take the first set but was pegged back by the home favourite before her game collapsed in a 5-7 6-4 6-0 defeat.

Dominant on serve in the opening set, Giorgi failed to take either of two break points at 3-2 up in the second set. She then won only one point in three consecutive games to allow Garcia to level.

The world number 29 earned just two points on serve in a one-sided decider as Garcia set up a last-16 clash with another Italian, Martina Trevisan.

Earlier, Russian Vera Zvonareva was comfortably beaten by seventh seed Alison van Uytvanck, who could await Garcia in the quarter-finals.

Zhang Shuai beat Kristina Mladenovic 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 to secure a match with Arantxa Rus, who defeated Danka Kovinic for the loss of just two games.

The top-ranked remaining player in the draw, world number 30 Sorana Cirstea, sealed a round-of-16 showdown with Stefanie Voegele after a comfortable 6-3 6-1 defeat of Mariam Bolkvadze.

US Open runner-up Leyla Fernandez cruised into the second round of the Monterrey Open after a straight-sets win over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova on Monday.

Monterrey Open defending champion Fernandez won 6-2 6-2 over the Slovakian, with the Canadian second seed dominant in all aspects as she triumphed in one hour and eight minutes.

In the longest match of the day, fourth seed Sara Sorribes Tormo needed more than three hours to edge Kamilla Rakhimova 7-5 6-7 (2-7) 6-1.

Fifth seed Camila Osorio defeated Magdalena Frech 6-3 7-6 (8-6), while Briton Heather Watson won 6-3 2-6 7-6 (7-4) over Jule Niemeier.

Harmony Tan, Marcela Zacarias, Viktoriya Tomova and Beatriz Haddad Maia were other winners on Monday.

Elina Svitolina will refuse to play Russian or Belarusian players unless tennis' governing bodies have them compete as neutral athletes in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The world number 15, who has committed to donating all of her prize money to Ukrainian military and humanitarian efforts, has been drawn against Russia's Anastasia Potapova in the first round of the Monterrey Open.

In a post on Twitter, Svitolina announced she would not contest that match or any other against players from Russia or Belarus unless the ATP, WTA and ITF follow the recommendation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and remove any reference to their national identities.

Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine last Thursday, with neighbouring Belarus effectively used as a staging post for Russian military.

Svitolina wrote: "I believe the current situation requires a clear position from our organisations: ATP, WTA and ITF. As such, we – Ukrainian players – requested to ATP, WTA and ITF to follow the recommendations of the IOC to accept Russian or Belarusian nationals only as neutral athletes, without displaying any national symbols, colours, flags or anthems.

"Accordingly, I want to announce that I will not play tomorrow [Tuesday] in Monterrey, nor any other match against Russian or Belarusian tennis players until our organisations take this necessary decision."

Svitolina saluted the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russian players who have all spoken out against the war.

She added: "I do not blame any of the Russian athletes. They are not responsible for the invasion of our motherland.

"Moreover, I wish to pay tribute to all the players, especially Russians and Belarusians, who bravely stated their position against the war. Their support is essential."

Alize Cornet crashed out on home soil as the Lyon Open got under way on Monday.

Fourth seed Cornet went down to a surprise defeat against Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa to disappoint the French support.

Bucsa, the world number 139, broke serve on six occasions as she came from behind to triumph 1-6 6-4 6-1 and dispatch Cornet, who was the highest-seeded player taking to the court on day one.

Fifth seed Jasmine Paolini almost joined Cornet in suffering an early exit at the WTA 250 event.

However, the Italian rallied to defeat Irina Bara 4-6 7-5 6-3 in a battle lasting two hours and 25 minutes.

Elsewhere, six aces helped Varvara Gracheva edge past Kristina Kucova in a 7-6 (7-0) 7-6 (7-2) win.

Paolini's compatriot Camila Giorgi is the number one seed at the tournament.

Giorgi is due to start her campaign on Tuesday after being handed a standout draw against home favourite Caroline Garcia.

Athletes and officials from Russia and Belarus should be prevented from taking part in all international sporting competitions, the International Olympic Committee said.

In a statement issued on Monday, the IOC's executive board accused the governments of Russia and Belarus of a "breach of the Olympic Truce" following the attack on Ukraine.

Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine last Thursday, with neighbouring Belarus effectively used as a staging post for Russian military.

The IOC accepted athletes from both countries did not deserve to be punished simply for the actions of their governments. However, because the war in Ukraine prevents many Ukrainians from taking part in sporting events, the IOC said they were left with "a dilemma which cannot be solved".

It added: "The IOC EB has therefore today carefully considered the situation and, with a heavy heart, issued the following resolution:

"In order to protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants, the IOC EB recommends that International Sports Federations and sports event organisers not invite or allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in international competitions.

"Wherever this is not possible on short notice for organisational or legal reasons, the IOC EB strongly urges International Sports Federations and organisers of sports events worldwide to do everything in their power to ensure that no athlete or sports official from Russia or Belarus be allowed to take part under the name of Russia or Belarus. Russian or Belarusian nationals, be it as individuals or teams, should be accepted only as neutral athletes or neutral teams. No national symbols, colours, flags or anthems should be displayed."

The IOC's announcement is expected to hasten a decision from FIFA over whether Russia will be allowed to compete in the World Cup play-offs in March.

Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic all declared they would not play against Russia due to the Ukraine conflict, but world football's governing body initially chose only to ban the country's anthem and flag from matches and order them to play as the Football Union of Russia (RFU).

Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev was confirmed as the new leader of the ATP world rankings on Monday, becoming the first man since Andy Roddick in 2004 to become world number one other than Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Andy Murray.