The first racket of Ukraine failed the first time in his career to reach the semi-finals of the tournament series Grand slam.
At the quarterfinal stage of the Australian Open, Svitolina met with the 37-th racket of the world from Belgium by Alice Mertens, which has already been beaten last year in the tournament final in Istanbul. Ukrainian was considered a big favorite of the match, but unexpectedly failed miserably the biggest match in his career.
Svitolina failed to find an answer to the aggressive play of Mertens – in the first set, the Ukrainian organized one break less, made in two times less winnershow and looked much worse at the net.
At the start of the second batch of Elina played a triple break-point, but to make a turning point in the game her and failed. Svitolina advance accepted defeat and passively watched as Mertens performs the last steps on the way to the semi-finals.
Debut in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open brought Elina Svitolina 440 thousand dollars prize money and 430 points in the WTA rankings. The first racket of Ukraine from Monday could be back in the top 3, if Czech Karolina Pliskova will not advance to the finals.
Alice Mertens (Belgium) Vs. Elina Svitolina (Ukraine, 4) – 6:4, 6:0
