Wimbledon 2019: Svitolina reaches first-ever Wimbledon quarterfinal with straight sets win over Martic

Elina Svitolina battled past Petra Martic to secure a 6-4, 6-2 win on Court 3 at the All England Tennis Club, earning a first-ever berth into the quarterfinals.

This was just the second time the Ukrainian had made it to the second week of Wimbledon and she had her eyes set on a first-ever quarterfinal.

Martic had gone down to Svitolina three times in the past, but the 28-year-old would have fancied her chances considering the Ukrainian's struggles on the grass.

Martic managed to hold serve to start proceedings and Svitolina responded in kind, holding to love. Martic secured another hold before putting the pressure on the Ukrainian's serve, forcing the game into a couple of deuces.

Svitolina held firm though and then secured a break in the fifth game to race into a 3-2 lead. However, she failed to capitalize on six game points and conceded the break back.

The seventh and eighth games saw both players struggle on serve. However, both saved three break points to hold their respective service games and ensure the set was tied at 4-4.

Martic showed signs of fatigue in the ninth game though and that was the opening Svitilona needed to secure another break and hold her own serve to end the first set in one hour and four minutes.

Svitolina broke Martic in the opening game of the second serve to take charge of proceedings. The Croatian then took a medical timeout for what appeared to be a back strain. She could never recover from that and lost her serve again, eventually falling to a 4-0 deficit.

Despite the injury though, Martic continued to battle. She held serve after which she forced a break point but failed to convert as Svitolina inched closer to victory.

.@ElinaSvitolina is into her first quarterfinal at @Wimbledon 💪How she moved past Martic in straight sets --> https://t.co/Rc3TdKziO3 pic.twitter.com/K7eZSyxzYC

— WTA (@WTA) July 8, 2019

Another hold for Martic meant Svitolina had to serve out the match and she did so in style, earning her first quarterfinal berth.

“I think I played really good solid tennis,” Svitolina said during her on-court interview. “I think Petra was struggling a little at the beginning of the second set and it was a physical match so that’s why it was extremely tough and I had to stay strong mentally.”

“I think today was a really solid performance for me. I was moving really well and made some good shots.”

When asked about her new milestone at Wimbledon, Svitolina said: “It’s amazing. I've always wanted to play well here and it never really happened. This year I’m feeling much better on the grass and moving well.”

Svitolina will take on the winner of the match between Karolina Pliskova and Karolina Muchova in the next round.

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