Svitolina knocks out Vandeweghe

Perhaps, the presence of the legendary Justine Henin in the stadium inspired Elina Svitolina to overcome an aggressive American who just couldn't stop hitting the ball hard.
It was as though CoCo Vandeweghe hated the ball. Now and again the Californian would hit those ferocious ground-strokes. But the Ukrainian kept coming back, returning balls that lesser players would not have even reached to make a decent contact.
And a running forehand pass against an advancing Vandeweghe even brought Henin to her feet. That incredible shot gave Svitolina her first match point in a riveting battle that last almost two hours.
And the former junior French Open champion then clinched the match (6-4 1-6 6-2) when Vandeweghe sent a poor return to the net.
Svitolina will now take on Sara Erani for a place in the final.
The Italian had staged a miraculous comeback against Vandeweghe's compatriot Madison Brengle to win another tough battle 4-6 6-1 6-1.
On Thursday, Svitolina proved as well that she has what it takes to win tough battles. And the maturity with which she handled a fiery opponent was impressive especially for someone who is only 21.
The Kharkiv-based player didn't give up hope even after losing her serve in the first game of the third set as she relentlessly attacked the American from the back of the court, breaking her twice to decisively turn the match in her favour. Earlier, Italian Errani was almost down and out (at 1-4 in the third set) when her American rival Brengle called out her coach.
Errani said even she couldn't understand Brengle's decision. But the Italian felt that played no part in her miraculous recovery from that hopeless position as she took the next five games to win that engrossing battle (4-6 6-1 6-4).
"Oh, I don't know. I don't know why she called. I was just trying to think on my own game. That's it. I know it was 4-1, tough games against the wind, but I just kept going," Errani, runner up here in 2013, said at the post-match Press conference.
"Yeah, it was a strange match really. I mean, she had a game in which she did not miss a ball. She was more aggressive. Sometimes she just waited more.
"So it's not easy to play against her. Also at the start, there was a lot of wind, so it was difficult to play the ball for me. I don't know about her. But yes, I could have lost easily today. That's true. There is no explanation to how I won. Only thing that I could tell you is that I just kept fighting."
The 28-year-old Italian who reached a career high ranking of 5 in May 2013, has a history of turning around matches.
"How do I do that? Well, just by playing and fighting till the end. I just keep telling myself that I can play."
Remarkably, Errani then teamed up with Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro to reach the doubles semifinals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over China's Saisai Zheng and Yi-Fan Xu.
In the first singles quarterfinal of the day, emerging French star Caroline Garcia overpowered veteran German Andrea Petkovic in straight sets (6-3 6-4).
Garcia, who will play the winner of the Thursday's late match between Ana Ivanovic and Barbora Strycova, was pleased with the easy ride on Thursday after that dramatic battle against third seed Carla Suarez Navarro in the second round.
Against, Petkovic - a player she had never beaten in the past - Garcia once again showed her ability to dictate points from the baseline.
The Lyon-based player also found those aces (4) when she really needed them as the German simply ran out of ideas.
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com

Elina Svitolina battled it out against CoCo Vandeweghe to enter the semifinal. — Photo by Shihab