WHAT HAPPENED: On a cloudy day in Louis Armstrong Stadium, No. 7 seed Elina Svitolina eased into the fourth round with a quick 6-4, 6-4 win over world No. 52 Qiang Wang in 69 minutes.
Wang has a reputation for upsets — she famously shocked Venus Williams in the first round of this year’s French Open and she took out Sloane Stephens in Wuhan right after the young American’s 2017 victory in Flushing Meadows. Coupled with the reputation Louis Armstrong has developed for elite WTA players over the last few days (see Halep, Simona, and Muguruza, Garbiñe), this match had the potential to cause a stir.
But Svitolina was just too solid. In the first set, Wang double faulted on break point to give the Ukrainian a 3-1 lead. Svitolina held the advantage until serving at 4-2, when Wang began to move forward in the rallies and fire more winners. The pair stayed on serve until 5-4. But after starting the 10th game with an ace, Wang had trouble controlling her shots, giving Svitolina two break point opportunities. She only needed one, sealing the set with a backhand winner.
The two played a six-minute game to start the second. Wang failed to convert four break point opportunities but managed to capitalize on the fifth when Svitolina sent a backhand into the net. Wang played two solid service games, serving three of her five aces in the match and taking advantage of some unforced errors from Svitolina. Serving at 3-2, however, Wang faltered and was broken at love, ending the game with a double fault. The Chinese player then lost eight of the next nine points, which allowed Svitolina to serve for the match at 5-3. Thanks to some errors and a double fault, Wang got the break back and served to stay in the match, but she couldn’t win a single point. Svitolina won the match breaking at love with a backhand volley winner.
WHAT IT MEANS: Svitolina is flying under the radar but, after a three-set fight with American Sachia Vickery, she’s now won her last two matches in two sets, both in under 70 minutes.
“I think I [am] getting better and better,” Svitolina said after her win on Friday. “Each match gave me a different look on my game. So far I think I’m playing really solid. That’s what we’re looking for. Hopefully the next match is going to be good.”
She next faces Anastasija Sevastova, who will be attempting to make her third straight quarterfinals at the tournament. The two have only played each other once, on clay in 2013, which Svitolina won in straight sets.
MATCH POINT: Svitolina was at her best when it mattered, winning all five of her break points. She also won an impressive 51 percent of points on the return.
