TIL Desk Sports/ Elise Mertens produced another huge upset in a tournament littered with them when she thrashed fourth seed Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-0 to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open at the first attempt on Tuesday. Ukrainian Svitolina came into the match riding high on a nine-match winning streak from the start of the season but, hampered by a hip injury, was completely outplayed by the aggressive Belgian on Rod Laver Arena.
Barely putting a foot wrong over the entire contest, the world number 37 sealed the victory and her first grand slam semi-final when she ripped a 26th winner, this time off her backhand, after 73 minutes.The 22-year-old emitted a huge shriek of delight and danced around the court in triumph before blowing a kiss to the skies and beaming at her coach and boyfriend Robbe Ceyssens in the stands.
“I’m without words, I don’t know what to say. I have mixed emotions, all good emotions,” Mertens said on court, the smile still fixed on her face. “I gave it all today, it was a little stressy at the end. I played my game and it went well.” The first Belgian to make the semi-finals in Melbourne since her mentor Kim Clijsters won the title in 2012, Mertens will next meet Caroline Wozniacki or Carla Suarez Navarro.
