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By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, January 16, 2018

 
Elina Svitolina

"I was fighting myself more than my opponent," said fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina after reaching the Australian Open third round.

Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve

Ukrainian tennis is rising down under.

It will be the favorite vs. the phenom when Elina Svitolina faces 15-year-old Australian Open junior champ Marta Kostyuk in an all-Ukrainian third-round clash at the Australian Open.

More: 15-Year-old Kostyuk Breaks Through

Battling illness and a hard-hitting opponent, Svitolina rallied for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory over Katerina Siniakova that sent her into the Melbourne third round for the fourth time.

Oddsmakers have staked Svitolina, who has never surpassed the Australian Open third round in five prior appearances, as the favorite to take the title and win her maiden major. If she reaches the final, the 2017 Roland Garros quarterfinalist will rise to world No. 1.

For one set today, the fourth seed struggled with the sun, intensifying heat and a bigger-hitting opponent on Rod Laver Arena.

Then Svitolina settled in and relaxed breaking for a 2-0 second-set lead and dissecting the world No. 59, who knocked off Maria Sharapova en route to the Shenzhen Open final earlier this month.

"It was second and third set was 6-2, 6-1, but I felt like it was 7-6, you know, in the third or 8-6 in the third. It was very tough for me today," Svitolina told the media afterward. "Not feeling great and was not focused on the right things, so, yeah, that's why it made it tougher for myself."




“It was quite a tough match—I didn’t feel so good today,” Svitolina told Tennis Channel’s Jon Wertheim afterward. “I was fighting more myself than my opponent. Probably this is the mistake I did and hopefully I can recover and be ready for my third round.

“It’s great to play [on Rod Laver Arena], I don’t want to complain, the sun on one side is burning your eyes. I was really trying to stay focused on serve and the next shot and just tried to earn every opportunity.”

Opportunities slipped away for both as Svitolina dug out of a love-40 hole in a three-ace hold for 3-2. The Shenzhen finalist made a stand of her own denying four break points to level in the sixth game.

Pushed back deep in the court, Svitolina’s shots were often landing mid-court. She scattered and inside-out forehand to donate the break and a 4-3 lead.

Serving for set at 5-4, Siniakova earned a set point but Svitolina saved it opening the court then knocking off a high forehand volley.

Exploiting Svitolina’s defensive court position well behind the baseline, the 21-year-old Czech saved two break points.

Battering a backhand crosscourt with a shriek earned Siniakova a second set point. The depths of her drives coaxed an error as she capped a near eight-minute game to seize a one-set lead after 50 minutes of play.

Resetting, Svitolina began hitting with more depth and Siniakova, who played cleaner tennis in the opener, began spraying shots a bit more. Once Svitolina earned her first break for a 2-0 second-set lead, she loosened up and began swinging more freely.

The fourth-seeded Ukrainian dug in and denied three break points—sometimes hunching over in the shade near the back wall to recover from the heat—holding for 3-0. Svitolina stretched the lead to 5-1 and held two set points but could not close as Siniakova broke back.

Siniakova, who won two titles last year, left the court for a seven-and-a-half minute medical timeout. Returning to confront immediate pressure, Siniakova warded off three more set points.

On the sixth set points, Siniakova stuck a flat backhand into the middle of the net as Svitolina forced the decider.

Nine seeds have already been bounced from the women's field three days into the tournament and Svitolina was in no mood to join the departed.

Though she seemed to be feeling the heat more severely in the second set, Svitolina looked more energetic in the decider. Siniakova buried a backhand capping a sloppy game to gift the break and a 2-0 lead to the woman in pink.




Svitolina surged out to a 4-0 lead before the Czech showed signs of life cranking a crosscourt backhand to break in the fifth game.

A razor-sharp, short-angled backhand brought Svitolina to double match point.

On her second match point, Svitolina slid a serve out wide to end it with a shout.

That wins sets up an all-Ukraine third round match with the 15-year-old qualifier Kostyuk, the youngest woman to win an Australian Open match since Martina Hingis 22 years ago.

“First time I heard about her when she won here," Svitolina said. "It's good, it's pretty cool that I'm playing someone from my country. It's gonna be very exciting for me and hopefully, you know, I can, yeah, be ready for that match.
"You know, it's not every day that, you know, I can play someone who's from my country. And especially for Ukrainian supporters it's going to be fun to watch, I guess. Yeah, it's pretty cool.”

 

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