Mertens is first woman into Australian semifinals
She wins her 10th match in a row, beating fourth-seeded Svitolina 6-4, 6-0.
MELBOURNE, Australia — A year after opting out of qualifying for the Australian Open, Elise Mertens has reached the semifinals in her debut at the season-opening major.
Mertens upset fourthseeded Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-0 on Tuesday to extend her winning streak to 10 matches and be the first woman through to the semifinals at Melbourne Park. She’s the first Belgian since Kim Clijsters in 2012 to reach the semifinals in Australia.
She trains at Clijsters’ academy and knew the fourtime major winner was watching on TV.
“Kim, thanks for watching, I knew you sent me a message before the match — don’t be too stressy,” Mertens said. “I’m trying to be in your footsteps this week.”
The No. 37-ranked Mertens successfully defended her Hobart International title — she decided last year to target that title instead of entering Open qualifying — two weeks ago, and has now won five matches at Melbourne Park.
Mertens dominated against Svitolina, who also entered her first quarterfinal in Australia on a ninematch roll after winning the Brisbane International two weeks ago.
Svitolina had won their only previous tour-level match, but had no answers in Rod Laver Arena.
Mertens will play either second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki or Carla Suarez Navarro in the semis.
In a men’s quarterfinal Tuesday, Kyle Edmund upset third-seeded Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 .
Edmund was the only British male player in the draw when Andy Murray withdrew to have hip surgery. Now Edmund is one win away from advancing to the final and a chance to win an Australian Open title — Murray has lost five times here in the championship match.
Edmund will play either top-seeded Rafael Nadal or No. 6 Marin Cilic in the first men’s semifinal on Thursday.
Nadal and Cilic were set to play a quarterfinal on Tuesday night.
On Monday night, 58thranked Hyeon Chung relentlessly attacked a clearly injured Novak Djokovic in a 7-6 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (3) fourth-round victory, becoming the first South Korean to reach the last eight at a Grand Slam.
Tennys Sandgren, a 26year-old from Tennessee, beat Dominic Thiem 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (7), 6-3, following up on his earlier victory over 2014 Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka.