It appeared that the quarterfinals were not yet Elina Svitolina’s forte for a third time. The Ukrainian saw Elise Mertens use a strategy of net front points that beat the world number four to submission at the Australian Open to win 6-4, 6-0 at Rod Laver Arena Tuesday afternoon. In what was considered the biggest upset of a top five player in the tournament, the 22-year-old up and coming Belgian tore apart the Ukrainian to advance to the semifinals.
After winning two titles early last season, the Ukrainian held off the 22-year-old Belgian to win her third WTA title. She held Mertens to six games with a defense in the second set that gave her the victory on the clay courts. With both reaching the quarterfinals for the first time at the open, it was a big moment where Svitolina would keep her composure and carry serious leverage against Mertens who doesn’t. The world number 37 hasn’t dropped a set all tournament but faces her first top ten player so far making the difficulty higher than ever for her.
Mertens had the lead during her opening serve but allowed Svitolina to force deuce on her own error. The Ukrainian secured the break before going on the hunt for consolidating her own. The sun became a factor in Svitolina’s serve which let the Belgian come in and fight for an early tie. She got deep into rallies with Svitolina before securing the AD point to win her first hold of the set. After showing her strength, Mertens put together a solid break that gave her a 2-1 lead on the fourth seed.
The 22-year-old made it 3-1 on a dirty ending where her shot bounced off the top of the net falling perfectly into Svitolina’s end. She stopped the deficit in its tracks gaining a hold in the fifth that got her game back in motion to control her own. It was becoming a problem as Mertens brought her net game into play that began to create problems for the world number four. She was down 5-2 quickly and needed ways of striking back.
The Ukrainian did it with two wins that broke Mertens but still in danger of going a set down with the Belgian on the ball for a third try at the set. She got it done with the net front shots that put Svitolina down a set after 41 minutes. Svitolina was held back on her serves that couldn’t get up to speed.
The second set was all Mertens as she used her drop shots and ball placement to her full advantage breaking Svitolina apart. The fourth seed had nothing to show for it as she was being beaten by the Belgian who dictated where she wanted the ball and took a shocking 3-0 lead sitting halfway from a major upset. Svitolina was well in danger and tried everything to break Mertens who was having the match of the tournament. She continued to make Svitolina run who at times got complacent in her game before firing a winner that gave her a massive 5-0 run serving for a spot in the semis.
Playing with so much focus and pressure beyond the scale for Svitolina, Mertens achieved match point at 40-30 that came on a long ball ending things at 1 hour and 13 minutes. The victory set a new point for Belgian tennis as she reached the semifinals of a major for the first time since Kirsten Flipkens did it in 2013. “I’m full of mixed good emotions,” Mertens said to Renae Stubbs during her on court interview. “I gave it all today and was a little stressed at the end but I played my game and it went well today.”
She’ll await new ground awaiting the winner between Caroline Wozniacki and Carla Suarez-Navarro.
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