Elina Svitolina meets Emma Raducanu’s challenge to claim terrific Auckland tussle

Elina Svitolina and Emma Raducanu went toe-to-toe Thursday at the ASB Classic in a tussle full of twists, turns, and terrific tennis.

When all was said and done, Svitolina broke away from the 2021 US Open champion, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-1, finishing with 52 winners to 26 unforced errors for a quarterfinal place at the WTA 250 event.

“It was a really great match from both of us. It was really difficult physically,” Svitolina assessed during an on-court interview. “Just hope I will recover for tomorrow and be ready.”

While the No. 2 seed initially held with ease and then pushed Raducanu to deuce from 40-0 down to begin, the Brit appeared to break open the first set by winning a key third game. On her seventh break point, Raducanu’s clean hitting in the early goings was rewarded when her opponent’s forehand found the net.

The wild card claimed five consecutive games by continuing to time her shots well, changing speeds and picking the right moments to pull out her forehand redirection up the line. Svitolina progressively interjected herself more in their exchanges, causing Raducanu to endure a case of déjà vu that mirrored the decisive set of her opening round with Elena-Gabriela Ruse when two opportunities to serve it out were wasted. After Svitolina completed her own five-game run to regain the lead, Raducanu put together a strong response to confirm a tie-break.

At 2-2, Svitolina misfired on a forehand following a deep second serve to hand over the mini break. Raducanu stretched her lead to 5-2 and reached two set points at 6-4 with a well-disguised backhand drop shot. Though she double-faulted to put the breaker back on serve, Raducanu took control of the following point—finishing with a winning forehand dropper.

Both competitors came out firing once again after the reset, resulting in three successive breaks. Svitolina regained the advantage for 2-1 thanks to sublime forehand returning and a game-ending double fault from Raducanu. But three games later, she returned the favor with a second serve that sailed long to bring the opposition even at 3-3

Down 3-4, Svitolina erased a break point with an ace out wide, and saved a second after Raducanu couldn’t clear her backhand up the line. Both raised their level on serve, bringing up another tiebreaker. That all soon changed with the returner taking four of the first five points. From 1-3, Svitolina reeled off the final six points row as Raducanu’s forehand broke down.

Svitolina kept the momentum on her end of the court, launching their decisive set with a love hold. As Raducanu tried to stay with her, Svitolina kept asking questions. Staring down a fourth break point in the game, Raducanu ultimately folded with a double fault. The moment jolted Svitolina, who motored to the finish line to seal the victory after two hours and 51 minutes.

In her opener here, Svitolina overcame former Australian Open titlist Caroline Wozniacki. The 2023 WTA Comeback Player of the Year will next take on Marie Bouzkova in the last singles match on Friday. The fifth-seeded Bouzkova, who began working with new coach Conchita Martinez in the off-season, conceded just one game in routing Amanda Anisimova a day earlier.