Number 5 seed Elina Svitolina beat former world number 11 Anastasija Sevastova 6-3 6-2 in 69 minutes to reach the Miami Open semifinals for the first time in her career.
The Ukrainian player has improved her head-to-head record against Sevastova.
Both players traded breaks in the first six games of the opening set. Svitolina saved break points to hold serve, as she reeled off seven consecutive games to build up a 6-3 4-0 lead. Sevastova pulled one of the breaks, but Svitolina won seven of the last eight points to claim the straight-set win.
Svitolina hit 19 winners, converted six of her seven break points and won 70 % of the points played on Sevastova’s serve.
Svitolina achieved her previous best result in Miami in 2018, when she reached the quarter final.
“I have always wanted to play well here in Miami. It’s one of the biggest tournaments and playing here is always amazing, so I am really pleased with the performance tonight. I know that she is a big fighter and she will try to come back, it doesn’t matter the score, so I was expecting a tough battle. In the end, I think I played really good throughout the match and I am really happy with the way I finished it”, said Svitolina.
Svitolina set up a semifinal match against world number 1 and defending champion Ashleigh Barty, who beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 after 2 minutes and 16 minutes. Svitolina has a 5-1 record in her six head-to-head matches against Barty, but the Australian player beat her Ukrainian opponent 6-4 6-4 in the title match of the 2019 WTA Finals in Shenzhen.
“I know Ash for a long time and we have played many times before. She is number 1 and it’s an amazing achievement for her. She has improved massively in the last three, four years. She has been at the top of the women’s game. It’s going to be a challenging match, but I am ready for it”, said Svitolina.
