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Elina Svitolina was again denied a chance for the quarterfinals at the US Open. Anastasija Sevastova overcame a devasting second set to blank the Ukrainian who was all but out in a 6-3, 1-6, 6-0 match on Grandstand Court at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center. The victory gave the Latvian her third consecutive advance to the quarterfinals in a scenario where she is dangerous.
This was their first meeting on the tour with one dating back six years. Both come into the fourth round with a push to better themselves with the two without a major title to their names. This part of the tournament is where Sevastova’s strengths show against the strongest competitors. In last year's Slam in New York, she was able to take down some of the biggest in the sport making her more than comfortable to do it again.
Both had dropped a set or more in three matches with the quarterfinals meaning so much for the Ukrainian. She chose to serve first but got into trouble with Sevastova coming into the middle of the court countering all the shots well. Svitolina committed her first double fault to give the Latvian two break points to earn the game. She consolidated it with a hold in the second that saw her comfortably taking the game to the seventh seed.
Svitolina managed to get herself together in the third but watched her opponent construct her tactics that were tough to counter. She couldn’t get a break under her belt but stayed a game down with her holding her own service game again.
The sixth game looked to be her chance to level the score at three all but a mistake on the deuce point went in favor of the Latvian who set up a clean winner out of reach to keep two games between herself and the seventh seed. Svitolina hung on during the seventh pushing the 19th seed to get returns to land wide. She still found herself two games down and with Sevastova on the hunt for the set, holding serve was huge for her to keep up.
She gained set point on a bad hit into the net followed by a wide landing that gave Sevastova the lead after 32 minutes.
“The first set was so physical that I was a little tired,” said Sevastova. “She started playing better. I was in a little bit of a negative pattern.”
Svitolina left the court to try and reel herself back in the match after a dozen errors and just five winners were produced. It wasn’t enough to make a dent in Sevastova's game who had 14 winners and two aces and 12 of 16 points won on serve. Knowing what she had to do, Svitolina pushed herself to compete against the Latvian’s serve. She earned her first break point chance which was gifted on a forehand error.
The 23-year-old made good of holding in the second with two game points to work with. On a six-shot rally, Svitolina answered a pop fly with a big smash to take a 2-0 lead. It was a good shake-up that turned the tables for the world number seven. She went for the second break but lost two break points due to Sevastova’s sudden strength that forced deuce. Just when it looked as if control would stay with Sevastova, the Ukrainian dictated her serve, firing big forehands that made it tough for the Latvian to close in.
A double break was in the works for the seventh seed who went along for the free ride before missing on a very close lob that was just short of crossing the net. She still had it done for a 4-1 lead over Sevastova who was feeling the pressure. The Latvian served in the seventh to keep the set alive but didn’t have the same amount of energy as the previous set. She threw in the towel and conceded to let Svitolina have the set in 26 minutes. Svitolina’s offense was better than her opponent's.
She also decided to leave the court which brought her back to get back on her mission of striking the ball with aggression and precision. She soon had a 2-0 lead over Svitolina which was a big improvement. She gained a double break on the Ukrainian who was unable to counter Sevastova in the third. The Latvian was coasting on, carrying a 4-0 lead with her game figured out.
A major loss of confidence for the 23-year-old had her serving to get on the board but unable to get her opponent to make mistakes. Sevastova waited for the moment to fire an easy winner that led her to a 5-0 run, serving for the bagel. She got it with a dominating stance on serve that ended with Svitolina hitting one into the net from the baseline. It took Sevastova 1 hour and 20 minutes to get another major accomplishment in what was another shot at making progress in her career.
She’ll wait to see whether she will once again face Sloane Stephens or prepare to meet Elise Mertens who is no stranger to running deep in majors. “I still remember that match from last year,” Sevastova said about her match on Tuesday. “I lost that match but still good memories from last year and am looking forward to playing it on Ashe.”
