Elina Svitolina knocked Coco Gauff out of the Australian Open to set up a semi-final clash with world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka, as the American’s serve collapsed in brutal fashion.
Ukraine’s Svitolina, the 12th seed, defeated Gauff 6-1, 6-2 in just 59 minutes to reach her first Australian Open semi-final, using aggressive returns to force repeated errors from the world No 3.
The 21-year-old American struggled badly on serve, committing five double faults in the opening set and failing to hold serve until her sixth game of the match. As Gauff’s confidence dipped, Svitolina at one point won 12 consecutive points in the second set.
The French Open champion appeared visibly distressed as unforced errors mounted, and aside from a brief fightback from 0-3 down in the second set, the match was one-sided and could have ended with an even heavier scoreline.
After leaving Rod Laver Arena, backstage footage showed Gauff walking alone before repeatedly smashing her racket against a concrete ramp in frustration.
The statistics underlined her struggles, with just three winners compared to 26 unforced errors. As her game unravelled, Gauff’s team urged her to simplify her approach and play safer shots through the middle of the court.
Svitolina will now face Aryna Sabalenka, who is seeking to regain the Australian Open title she lost to Madison Keys in last year’s final. Earlier in the day, Sabalenka ended the run of American teenager Iva Jovic with a dominant 6-3, 6-0 victory. —The Independent
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