By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, January 20, 2019
Elina Svitolina surged through the final five games stopping Madison Keys, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, to surge into her second straight Australian Open quarterfinal.
Mark Peterson/Corleve
Knowledge is power—Elina Svitolina's awareness stymied Madison Keys' strength.
A stubborn Svitolina fought off five break points in a stirring 17-minute hold. for a 2-1 final-set lead.
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That spirited stand sparked a five game run as Svitolina subdued Keys, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, battling into her second straight Australian Open quarterfinal.
It is the fourth career major quarterfinal for Svitolina, who is aiming for her first Grand Slam semifinal in her 26th career major.
"Definitely, I was playing good tennis today," Svitolina said. "Madison was playing great in the second set so I had to rise up, put my level up. I was very happy I could handle the pressure at 1-all in the third set. I'm very pleased I played really good tennis at the end."
The seventh-ranked Svitolina is the highest-ranked woman yet to win a Grand Slam singles title. Svitolina will continue her quest when she faces either US Open champion Naomi Osaka or 13th-seeded Latvian Anastasija Sevastova for a spot in the final four.
Deadlocked at 1-all in the decider, Svitolina withstood bright sun, back-to-back double faults, explosive winners from Keys, a stab volley and five beak points in all. Refusing to give in to any of it, Svitolina used her movement, instincts, anticipation and flair for the counter strike to fight through a hold for 2-1.
"It was very tough because the sun was just burning my eyes when I was serving the ball," Svitolina said. "So I was very happy I could win that game."
She never looked back.
The 17th-seeded Keys, who had reached semifinals or better in three of her last five Slams, put herself in position earning five beak points in the third game of the final set. But Keys could not convert, finishing a frustrating day converting just two of seven break points and committing 34 unforced errors more than doubling Svitolina's 16 errors.
Thirteen minutes into the match, Svitolina surged to a 4-0 lead.
Running around her backhand to fire her favored forehand, the 17th-seeded American stuck a forehand down the line finally breaking the shutout in the fifth game.
Serving for the set, Svitolina snapped her second ace and closed the 31-minute opener when Keys clanked a backhand into the net.
Operating under the theory points are lost rather than won, Svitolina was stinging committing only five unforced errors compared to 11 for Keys, who was both more explosive and erratic in the set.
Cleaning up her act considerably, Keys created complete role reversal in the second set.
It all stemmed from the forehand. Stepping into the court, Keys spread the court with her forehand and unlike the first set, she was proactive with her feet reducing Svitolina's reaction time.
Scalding successive forehands down the line, Keys scored her second straight break for 4-0. The 2017 US Open finalist breezed through a three winner game stretching the lead to 5-0.
Completely flipping the script, Keys quadrupled Svitolina's winner total—16 to 4—in the second set commanding the center of the court to force a decider after 53 minutes.
Refreshed after a bathroom break, Svitolina started the final set with a strong hold as boyfriend Gael Monfils popped from his seat exhorting her with applause and a clenched fist.
Tugging on her plum-colored visor, Svitolina survived five break points in a wild third game that spanned nearly 17 minutes and popped with a 19-shot rally, winners, near misses and back-to-back double faults. Staying calm through it all, Svitolina held for 2-1.
Court sense was a key to this match. Svitolina sees the court and reads the play better than Keys, who often created attacking opportunities only to self-sabotage hitting back at the Ukrainian. Svitolina drew successive backhand errors to break in the fourth game.
Dotting the line with her third ace, Svitolina backed up the break for 4-1 at the 90-minute mark. Svitolina closed in style with a clever serve-and-volley to end it in 96 minutes.
The sixth seed has dropped just one set in four tournament wins and now takes aim at her first major quarterfinal victory next.