Svitolina seals spot in Strasbourg semifinals with Teichmann victory

STRASBOURG, France - No.2 seed Elina Svitolina sealed a place in her first semifinal in six months with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Switzerland's Jil Teichmann at the Internationaux de Strasbourg.

From a break down in each set, the World No.5 eased through to victory in one hour and 23 minutes in her first-ever meeting against the Swiss left-hander.

"It was a great fight from Jil and I think both of us were playing at a really good level at some points," Svitolina said on-court after the match.

"I was fighting. I didn't start the match very well, but I was trying to be very focused and fight back. In the end, I'm very happy with how I handled the match today."

Teichmann, a two-time WTA title-winner on clay courts, started the better of the two players with a break in the first game of the match.

The World No.54 dropped just three points in her first two services games, but crucially, proved unable to covert a pair of points for a 4-2 lead in the opener en route to losing serve.

From there, the World No.5 quickly gained the upper hand in the set, and though she did not convert a pair of break points in the eighth game, made no mistake on her fourth of the set, which was also her first set point. 

"I was down in the first set and I was not 'on' straight away, which really I think pushed me to raise my level and to try to find a way," Svitolina told reporters after the match.

"Every single match, you have to raise your level to beat your opponent... especially when you are a top player. I think it was important to just raise my level, really fight for every single point and go for my opportunities."

Svitolina's momentum continued into the second set, as she opened up a 2-0 lead by winning eight of the first 10 points.

In her third career match against a Top 10 player, Teichmann proved undaunted by the deficit, and ran off three games of her own to again move a break ahead.

A pair of lengthy game's in the set's late stages proved to be the 23-year-old's undoing. After failing to consolidate the lead, Teichmann was unable to convert another break point against Svitolina's serve at 3-3 in a game that featured a trio of deuces, and later dropped serve in a four-deuce game in which she faced four break points. 

"I think she really was playing really good and striking the ball really well," Svitolina added. "In the end, I was very happy with how I could come back.

"I was fighting to stay in and to get the win, and I think I got rewarded. That was really good today, because I didn't let the bad games change my mindset."

Though both players recorded 18 winners in the match, Svitolina's overall consistency was what helped her win out. The Ukrainian totaled 14 unforced errors in the match while the Swiss recorded 20, and Svitolina also earned herself more than twice the amount of break point opportunities. 

For a spot in her second final of the season, the Monterrey champion will face either No.4 seed Aryna Sabalenka or Czech Katerina Siniakova. 

"I haven't played against Sabalenka for a few years now. She's a really powerful player and I have to expect that she's going to come and make lots of winners. She has a big serve and she really tries to put the pressure on you that way," Svitolina said.

"With Siniakova, it's a little bit different. There's more of a rally and she's a very good mover, so for me it's just going to be important with both players to bring my game, try to have a clear game plan... and focus on what I can control.

"Last week, I didn't play so well against [Marketa] Vondrousova, which was disappointing... in the end, I had a few good matches in Rome. We made the decision to come here, I committed to the decision... and I'm very happy that I already got a few good matches here.

"The courts are very good here, they are very similar to Roland Garros, the balls are the same, the field of players are very strong. In the end, I'm very happy to be playing here."