Dimitrov downs Edmund to reach semis: Svitolina stuns Pliskova

BRISBANE, Australia: Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina stunned second seed Karolina Pliskova on Friday to reach her first Brisbane International final in four attempts.

After falling at the semi-final stage in her previous two attempts — including a loss last year to eventual champion Pliskova — Svitolina recovered from 0-4 down in the first set to win 7-5, 7-5.

She mastered the huge Pliskova serve and outhit her Czech opponent from the back of the court. Svitolina also showed admirable mental strength when after squandering a 5-2 second set lead and allowing Pliskova to level at 5-5, she broke once more and held on to win on her fourth match point. “Karolina plays very well here in Brisbane and playing against the defending champion is always tough,” she said.

“I was playing very badly, I was making lots of mistakes so I just said to myself try to take time, just go for your shots, but one metre inside the court.”Svitolina won five tournaments on the WTA tour in 2017, the most of any player, and firmly established herself as a top 10 player.

She started the week two places below Pliskova at number six in the world but will end it ranked fourth, two places higher than her Czech opponent, who will now drop to sixth. The Ukrainian will also go into Saturday’s decider against Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich as firm favourite to win her 10th title. Sasnovich earlier became the first qualifier ever to reach the final in Brisbane when she beat seventh-seeded Latvian Anastasija Sevastova.

Meanwhile top seed and defending champion Grigor Dimitrov moved into the semi-finals of the season-opening Brisbane International after seeing off a brave challenge from an injured Kyle Edmund on Friday.

Dimitrov was on court for almost two-and-a-half hours before finally subduing the British number two, who was right in the contest until he hurt his ankle with the score at 4-4 in the third set.

Edmund was wrong-footed on the baseline and collapsed to the ground with a scream of pain after turning his ankle.While the crowd held their breath, fearing the 22-year-old Englishman had done some major damage, Dimitrov hurdled the net and ran to his opponent, eventually helping him hobble off court. But after having his ankle strapped the Englishman was able to carry on, although his movement appeared restricted. Dimitrov held his serve to go to 5-4 and then broke Edmund to seal the win 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4.

Edmund’s injury comes days after British men’s number one Andy Murray pulled out of the Australian Open due to his ongoing hip injury and women’s number one Johanna Konta retired in her Brisbane quarter-final, also with a hip problem. The Australian number one admitted he was flat at the start of the match before switching on at the start of the second set. Harrison moved through when his opponent, Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin, retired due to a left hip injury with the American leading 7-6 (8/6), 4-2.

Brisbane International results (X denotes seed):

Men quarter-finals

Alex de Minaur (AUS) bt Michael Mmoh (USA) 6-4, 6-0

Nick Kyrgios (AUS X3) bt Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4

Ryan Harrison (USA) bt Denis Istomin (UZB) 7-6 (8/6), 4-2 rtd

Grigor Dimitrov (BUL X1) bt Kyle Edmund (GBR) 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4

Women semi-finals

Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) bt Anastasija Sevastova (LAT X7) 7-6 (7/3), 6-4

Elina Svitolina (UKR X3) bt Karolina Pliskova (CZE X2) 7-5, 7-5.