NEW YORK (Reuters) – Ukrainian Elina Svitolina came from behind to beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 5-7 6-4 6-4 in a high-quality match on Thursday to reach the U.S. Open third round.
Svitolina sent down her 10th ace on match point to end the nearly three-hour clash to the delight of the supportive crowd at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Svitolina returned in April following the birth of her daughter with fellow tennis player Gael Monfils and said she drew inspiration from her husband, who was playing his second-round match at the same time.
“I tried to get a little motivation from him,” she said in an on-court interview.
“I know he is playing out there and I needed to change my head a little bit because I was not playing my best. I had to bring different energy and I was thinking about him a little bit.”
Svitolina improved to 11-2 at Grand Slams this season after the 28-year-old made the Wimbledon semi-finals and the French Open quarter-finals.
She has produced consistent performances despite the turmoil caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and did not shake the hand of her Russian opponent after the match.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles, editing by Ed Osmond)
