Source: Radio New Zealand
Elina Svitolina celebrates victory at the 2026 ASB Classic. Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Tournament top seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine has survived a major scare to beat British qualifier Sonay Kartal 6-4 6-7 7-6 and advance to the semi-finals of the ASB Classic in Auckland.
Svitolina told Sky Sport the final set was stressful.
“A tiebreaker, of course, it’s always very very difficult and challenging,” she said. “All the credit to Sonay, she played unbelievable today.
“I think she even deserved more than me to win today, to be fair.”
Svitolina will meet American third seed Iva Jovic, who beat Sofia Costoulas of Belgium 6-2 7-6.
Qualifier Costoulas seemed about to force a third set, but Jovic fought back in the second-set tiebreaker and said she had to be aggressive.
“She wasn’t missing a lot,” Jovic said. “She was playing with a lot of spin, a lot of shape, so I really had to win every point out there, and just moving my feet in the wind.
“It’s tricky, it’s swirling in all different directions, so it was hard for me to find my footing at times.”
Filipino trailblazer through to final four
Earlier, fourth seed Alexandra Eala of the Philippines continued her run at the tournament, after beating Polish fifth seed Magda Linette 6-3 6-2.
Eala will meet seventh seed Wang Xinyu of China, who advanced after leading 6-4 4-3, when her British opponent Francesca Jones retired injured.
The unseeded Jones had impressed during the tournament, but called a physio at the end of her first set and eventually succumbed to a leg injury.
Alexandra Eala is a fan favourite at the Women’s ASB Classic Tennis Tournament in Auckland. www.photosport.nz
Just 20, Eala has attracted plenty of attention, already becoming the highest-ranked player in her country’s history.
“I’m happy with how I handled the external factors, the wind and playing Magda has always been difficult for me,” she said. “She’s a very solid player.”
Eala has displayed a calmness on court that defies her age and said it was something she had worked on.
“I think that just goes back to the standard that my team and my family, especially, have kind of like built around me growing up.”
She said she wouldn’t dare smash a racket in anger.
“No, smashing a racket is a big no-no in my family and, if that happened, you would probably never see me on court again,” Eala laughed.
Her parents often travel with her to tournaments and this one is no exception.
“They’ve been taking walks, watching me play,” she said. “This is the first time I think all of us have been in New Zealand, so it’s nice, the atmosphere is great, obviously a big Philippine community, and I like the place, very calm, it’s very clean, so new experiences.”
She predicted Saturday’s semi-final would be a “very difficult” match-up.
“Semi-finals are never easy and she’s [Wang] been playing really well this week, so I’m really looking forward to it.”
Wang, who had a tough end to last year, said she felt fresh, after having a decent pre-season.
“I’ve been a bit injured over the past two years and this pre-season, I was finally able to work more than before,” she said. “It was just working hard and putting the pieces into the puzzle, focussing on where I can improve.
“I was very happy and confident coming into this season because of that.”
Wang, 24, goes into the semi with three tough matches under her belt and would make her first WTA final, if she can get past Eala.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
