Madrid Open: Svitolina ends Uchijima’s run to reach semi-finals

Elina Svitolina, the No 17 seed, reached the semi-finals of the Madrid Open by defeating Japanese Moyuka Uchijima 6-2, 6-1 at the Caja Mágica.

Victory today has taken Svitolina’s current winning run on the WTA Tour to ten matches, and she has won all 20 of those sets.

The Ukrainian was sensational today as she took down a player who was herself enjoying an excellent run in Madrid.

The Japanese world No 56 knocked out Jessica Pegula and Ons Jabeur on her way to the last eight.

Todays, she came up against an opponent who was simply too good, however, as Svitolina deservedly rolled into the semi-finals without dropping a set.

Svitolina, ranked No 17, will play the winner of the match between Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, the top seed, and Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, the No 24 seed, next.

Earlier in the tournament, the Ukrainian won against Sonay Kartal (6-3, 6-1), Kazakh Elena Rybakina, the No 10 seed (6-3, 6-4) and Greek Maria Sakkari (6-3, 6-4).

Uchijima, ranked No 56, beat American wildcard Robin Montgomery (1-6, 6-4, 6-3), Tunisian Ons Jabeur, the No 26 seed (4-6, 6-3, 6-4), American Jessica Pegula, the No 3 seed (6-3, 6-2) and Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, the No 21 seed (6-4, 7-6 (5)) in the previous rounds of the Madrid tournament.

Madrid WTA 1000, other last-eight results (Caja Mágica, clay, EUR 7.854.000, most recent results first):

• Aryna Sabalenka vs. Marta Kostyuk
• Coco Gauff (4) beat Mirra Andreeva (7): 7-5, 6-1
• Iga Swiatek (2) beat Madison Keys (5): 0-6, 6-3, 6-2