Svitolina’s Grit Carries Her to Auckland Semis

In the sticky January air of Auckland’s ASB Tennis Centre, Elina Svitolina dug deep to extend her run at the WTA 250 event, outlasting Sonay Kartal in a three-set thriller that tested every ounce of her resilience. The top seed, ranked No. 13, absorbed punishing rallies and flipped the script late, claiming a 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-6(5) victory on hard courts that mimic Melbourne’s unforgiving pace. This win, just nine days before the Australian Open starts on January 18, underscores her knack for turning pressure into propulsion amid the season’s early churn.

Svitolina broke Kartal right out of the gate in the first set, her heavy topspin forehand carving crosscourt angles that forced errors, but she dropped serve in the fourth and had to chase from 4-2 down. Kartal’s flat backhands sliced inside-out, pinning the Ukrainian deep, yet Svitolina’s court coverage—lunging for wide balls and countering with low slices—kept the set alive until she leveled and stole it on a down-the-line winner. The Briton’s momentum carried into the second, where she built a 5-2 lead with aggressive net rushes, but Svitolina’s improved returns neutralized those forays, dragging the set to a tiebreaker she dominated 7-2.

Rising from third-set shadows

Kartal grabbed an early break in the decider, extending to 5-3 with serves that hugged the lines, her one–two pattern of flat groundstrokes leaving Svitolina stretched. But the veteran rallied, breaking back in the 10th game after reading a wide serve and firing an inside-in forehand to force a tiebreak. There, Svitolina held her first match point at 6-4, only to save a slip before converting the second with a crosscourt backhand that kicked up sharply off the grippy surface.

The crowd’s energy shifted with each swing, murmurs turning to cheers as Svitolina’s defensive lobs bought time, wearing down Kartal’s aggression in the humid dusk. This wasn’t brute force but tactical patience—varying pace with underspin approaches to disrupt rhythm, a blueprint honed from majors past. Her experience bent the match’s arc, turning Kartal’s unforced errors in clutch moments into the edge that clinched it after two hours of grinding exchanges.

Teen test awaits in semis

Now Svitolina turns to American Iva Jovic in Saturday’s semifinal, a 16-year-old wildcard whose blistering groundstrokes have sliced through the draw with junior-level poise. Jovic’s quick feet turn defense into offense, often ripping inside-in winners that could probe any lingering fatigue from the quarterfinal scrap. For the top seed, this pits seasoned adaptability against raw speed on a surface where her 1–2 setups—serve followed by a deep return—will need to blunt the teen’s fearless baseline fire.

Across the bracket, Alexandra Eala progressed by defeating Magda Linette 6-3, 6-2, her consistent depth overwhelming the Pole in straight sets on these medium-paced courts. Eala now faces China’s Wang Xinyu, the No. 7 seed, who advanced when Francesca Jones withdrew with injury while trailing 6-4, 4-3. These results layer intrigue into the semis, where emerging talents signal the tour’s fresh dynamics as players sharpen for Melbourne’s spotlight.

Auckland’s hard courts, with their predictable bounce, offer the ideal rehearsal for the Australian Open’s demands, letting veterans like Svitolina refine transitions from slice retrievals to topspin counters. The psychological boost from this escape steels her mindset, quieting doubts and building quiet assurance. As the semifinals loom, every point edges closer to recapturing peak form under the major’s gathering shadow.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.