Top seed Elina Svitolina was forced to dig deep to book her place in the quarterfinals of the ASB Classic, defeating Britain’s Katie Boulter 7-5 6-4 in a hard-fought second-round match on Thursday night.
The contest lasted two hours and two minutes and was played in blustery conditions at the Manuka Doctor Arena, with swirling winds affecting both players throughout the evening.
Svitolina admitted it was far from her best performance, but the Ukrainian said the focus was simply on finding a way to get through.
“It could be better, of course, but I need to take this win. And of course, I’m very happy through to the next round,” Svitolina said.
“Katie, she played really well. She striked the ball big, so I had to adjust my game , and the wind was really swirling around. So I had to fight hard and find my way.”
Boulter pushed the former world No 3 throughout and it was an intense battle.
Asked what proved decisive, Svitolina pointed to patience and resilience.
“I think just putting an extra ball over the net and trying to fight through,” she said.
“I’m very happy the way I could fight and stay in the match, even when I was not closing it with my serve.”
The difficult conditions were a recurring theme on Thursday with other players commenting on the wind.
“It was really tough conditions,” Svitolina said. “I feel like we didn’t play an ideal match, but we fought today, and it was a close match. So it’s really not easy for both players, so you have to adjust your game.”
After a more straightforward 6-3 6-1 first-round win over Varvara Gracheva on Tuesday, Svitolina said battling through a tougher test was valuable preparation as she builds towards the Australian Open.
“The win is the win,” she said. “For me, every match I play is important. And of course, it’s nice to get back to the spirit of fighting and really fighting your way through the matches.”
In the last match on Thursday, Britain’s Sonay Kartal defeated Ella Seidel from Germany 6-3 6-1. Kartal will play against Svitolina in Friday night’s quarterfinal.