Elina Svitolina performed brilliantly to beat Johanna Konta 6-4 6-4 at US Open 2019 and advance to her second successive Grand Slam semi-final.
The Ukrainian, 24, is in stunning form. She is yet to drop a set and she must be feeling very confident about her chances of winning her first major title at Flushing Meadows this year.
Svitolina booked her place in the last four by outplaying Konta from the baseline. She chased down the Brit’s shots, hit winners when she could and kept her unforced error count to a minimum.
Consequently, she put the World No.16 under intense pressure throughout. And the strain started to tell during a long fifth game, when the Ukrainian earned the first break point of the match.
Konta saved that one, but Svitolina seized her second chance a few points later with a cross-court forehand that the Brit found too hot to handle.
In the next game, the World No.16 was very aggressive. She unleashed a series of powerful groundstrokes that earned her enough points to set up a chance to break. Then the Ukrainian hit a backhand into the net, which sealed the break back and levelled the score at 3-3.
Crucially, Svitolina did not dwell on that game. She immediately re-focused and set about making Konta’s life difficult once again. It paid instant dividends, as the Brit made a couple of bad errors to gift her two break points. The Ukrainian then passed her with a superb winner to re-establish her lead.
Although Konta tried hard to break Svitolina again and lengthen the set, the World No.5 held firm to close it out 6-4.
Svitolina keeps the pressure on
The second set followed an almost identical pattern. The first four games passed without major incident, and then the Brit dropped her serve in game five.
Just like in the first set, Konta responded by going on the attack. She forced Svitolina back behind the baseline repeatedly and this led to errors from the Ukrainian. The Brit then seized her first break point of the game with a high-risk drop shot.
However, the World No.16 wasted the break. She made two poor errors and she was punished for two terrible approach shots as she lost her service game to love and fell 4-3 behind.
Svitolina ensured Konta had no chance of getting back into the match after that. She held serve comfortably to move 5-3 ahead. Then she accepted events philosophically when the Brit saved match two match points in game nine.
This set up a chance to serve for the match. The Ukrainian dealt with it superbly. She won one point with a great serve and then a second by outlasting the World No.16 in a pulsating rally.
Then the next point broke the last of Konta’s resistance, as Svitolina finished a stunning point with a brilliant backhand pass on the run to make it 40-15. When the Brit hit a backhand long, the Ukrainian’s win was confirmed, and she closed her eyes and looked to the sky with a broad smile.
“It feels amazing,” Svitolina said in her on-court intreview. “It was a very, very tough match. I think we were both striking the ball (well) and it was quite even. Then in the end I had to close on my serve, which was very tricky. I’m very, very happy with how I handled the pressure today.”
Svitolina hails Monfils effect ahead of potential Serena clash
The Ukrainian also spoke about the influence of boyfriend and hitting partner Gael Monfils, who will take on Matteo Berretini in the quarter-final of the men’s draw.
“We are definitely pushing each other,” she said. “We are trying to join each other in the semi-final, so now he needs to step up his game.”
Svitolina’s next match could be exceptionally tough, as she is due to meet the winner of Serena Williams versus Qiang Wang.
If she does face the legendary American, she will not have any recent experiences to draw on because, by a curious twist of fate, they have not met one another since the Rio Olympics in 2016.
On that occasion, Svitolina beat a strangely lacklustre Serena. However, it may not mean much because the Ukrainian is a much better player now and the American has gone through at least two life-changing experiences (marriage and childbirth) since then.
The biggest source of encouragement for Svitolina could be the performance of Simona Halep in the Wimbledon final. The Romanian, who is a similar type of player, anticipated Serena’s shots superbly that day and demolished her in a fashion rarely seen during her stellar career.
“It would be exciting to play Serena again,” the Ukrainian said. “If I play her, it will be a good match.”
