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Showing tremendous focus, the world number seven had everything under control at the Australian Open on Monday afternoon. Elina Svitolina remained calm and collected during a tight moment in the third set against Madison Keys to coast to victory at Margaret Court winning 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 in the fourth round at Melbourne Park. It was the second time that the Ukrainian made it back to back quarterfinals in a major.
After an incredible match that involved the Ukrainian’s shoulder that caused her trouble before winning it in three sets, the 24-year-old had another challenge in front of her against Keys.
The American took down Elise Mertens in a very strong show of control in straight sets to make her shot at a third win over Svitolina. They’ve met on hard courts both times with the first set always being the most highly contended. With the 24-year-old wanting to continue in the tournament, she would have to bring together a different result against the 17th seed.
She started with a terrific break of the American in the first game which set the pace for her early dominance. She was in good control of her service game that led to a double break of Keys before taking a major 4-0 lead.
The 23-year-old got into the mix by the fifth holding Svitolina to two points. The Ukrainian didn’t let a win to her opponent bother her and succeeded in the sixth to give her a 5-1 score.
Keys gained another hold in the seventh but it was the last she would see in the set. Before the seventh, Svitolina had the physio come out to tape up blisters that she had on her left foot. After the conclusion of the medical timeout, the sixth seed jumped back to action, gaining two set points on serve to put the American away in 29 minutes. She kept the unforced errors low while maintaining a solid first serve which she won 74 percent of the time.
With that statement made by Svitolina, Keys had to find it in her to react in kind. She did so with a break of the world number seven that soon turned into a 4-0 run with a double break scored for herself. The Ukrainian got hold by the fifth but the damage clearly was returned.
She continued to trail Keys who had increased the number of winners that assisted in carrying control. Despite getting another later on in the seventh, the set stayed in the hands of the 17th seed to put a close on 24 minutes of play. Keys won 85 percent on the first serve and had 16 winners to Svitolina’s four.
With both dug into the match, the set would be a complete tug of war with both competitors fighting with all they had to be the one getting the win. They held serve to begin a set which soon led to a massive undertaking. In the third, Svitolina had the 40-30 lead but was forced to deuce by the young American.
It would become the pinnacle highlight of the match as both traded off the AD points that spanned 11 breaks. After 16 minutes, the 24-year-old Ukrainian had put two AD point chances together that led to her holding the game. “It was very hard,” Svitolina said. “Because the sun was just burning my eyes when serving the ball. I was very happy that I could win that game.”
Svitolina continued to have energy after the third and broke Keys late in the fourth. She consolidated it with another hold in the fifth to open a three-game gap looking poised to move into the quarterfinals.
She gained her second double break of the match with Keys committing too many unforced errors that had her on the edge of defeat with Svitolina serving for the match. She held Keys back in the final game that allowed her to celebrate a 1 hour and 36-minute victory.
“I was playing good tennis today,” said Svitolina during her on-court interview. Madison was playing great in the second set so I had to rise and bring my level up and was very happy that I could handle the pressure at one-all in the third set and very pleased that I could play good tennis in the end.” She will prepare for a very tough match to come against US Open champion Naomi Osaka and Latvian Anastasija Sevastova on Wednesday.
“I have to keep positive for the next round,” she said about her quarterfinal matchup. “I will have a day of preparation to see who will win and try to prepare.”
