Svitolina Advances to ASB Classic Semifinals

Elina Svitolina advanced to the semifinals of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, on Friday with a hard-fought three-set victory over Britain's Sonay Kartal. The top-seeded Ukrainian, ranked 13th in the world, rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the deciding set to win 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5) at the ASB Tennis Centre.

The quarterfinal match showcased Svitolina's resilience, as Kartal dominated much of the play with strong serving and aggressive groundstrokes. Svitolina broke Kartal in the opening game of the first set but faced immediate resistance, losing her serve in the fourth before recovering from 4-2 down to claim the set. The second set saw Kartal build a 5-2 lead, only for Svitolina to force a tiebreaker, which the British player won convincingly. In the third, Kartal earned an early break, but Svitolina broke back in the 10th game to level at 5-5, setting up another tiebreaker. Svitolina converted her second match point after saving several opportunities for Kartal.

"There's still a lot of adrenaline after that last set and the tiebreaker, which is always very difficult and challenging," Svitolina said afterward. "All the credit to Sonay; she played incredible, and I...