Elina Svitolina surges into Australian Open quarter-finals with victory over Madison Keys

Euphoric: Svitolina has reached the quarter-finals in the Melbourne for a second successive year.
AFP/Getty Images
Joe Krishnan21 January 2019

Elina Svitolina booked her place in the Australian Open quarter-finals after beating American Madison Keys in three sets.

The Ukrainian recovered from a nightmare second set to triumph 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 over the 17th seed at the Margaret Court Arena.

The 24-year-old breezed through the first set with two breaks of serve before Keys rallied in the second, taking a 5-0 lead before converting her second set point to level the match.

But the game-changing moment came in the third set at 1-1. Svitolina, who was serving, was forced to save five break points during a marathon hold of serve in the deciding set.

The game went to an incredible 11 deuces before finally - after 16 minutes of play in the game alone - the sixth seed capitalised on an unforced error from Keys to hold.

And she never looked back, sealing the next four games in a row to book her place in the last eight, where she will meet US Open champion Naomi Osaka, who came from a set down to beat Anastasija Sevastova.

"I played some good tennis today and it was a challenge," Svitolina said in the post-match interview.

"Madison played well in the second set. I had to rise to it and put my level up.

"I was happy that I could handle the pressure at 1-1 in the third set. It was very hard because the sun was in my eyes and I could barely see the ball, so I was happy that I could win that game."

In Pictures | Australian Open Tennis 2019

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