Svitolina advances to US Open third round after comeback win

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WTA/Jimmie48

NEW YORK -- No.26 seed Elina Svitolina

came from a set down to defeat 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the US Open.

US Open 2023: Draw | Order of play | Scores | 411

Since returning to the tour in April after having her daughter, Skaï, Svitolina has played her best tennis at the majors. After an inspired run to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, Svitolina stunned No.1 Iga Swiatek

en route to the semifinals at Wimbledon. She has made the quarterfinals or better in her last two appearances at the US Open, including a semifinal in 2019.

Match notes: Thursday's match was the sixth meeting between Svitolina and Pavlyuchenkova and their first since 2020. In a physical first set, Pavlyuchenkova reigned in her trademark power game in favor of smart baseline consistency. As Svitolina looked to keep points short and terminate as early as possible, Pavlyuchekova was content to test her in more protracted rallies.

That rally discipline paid off for the 2021 French Open finalist. Of the 37 rallies that lasted five or more shots, Pavlyuchenkova won the bulk of them, winning 21. She saved all five break points she faced and earned the only break of the set in the final game to take the early lead.

Turning point: Pavlyuchenkova had saved all seven break chances she faced until Svitolina finally crashed through her defenses. Taking advantage of a pair of double faults and back-to-back unforced errors, Svitolina earned her first break of serve with an artful drop shot to lead 3-2 in the second set.

The comeback was on. As the match wore on, Svitolina successfully shortened points and took control. The cumulative return pressure paid off in the third set. The Ukrainian broke twice to build a 4-0 lead. Pavlyuchenkova closed the gap to get within a break and saved two match points in the final game. But Svitolina steeled herself to earn the 2-hour and 47-minute win.

Stat of the match: Svitolina fired 41 winners to 36 unforced errors in the match, while generating 15 break points. Pavlyuchenkova hit 31 winners to 45 unforced errors.

Up next: Svitolina will face either No.3 Jessica Pegula

or Romania's .

More from the US Open:

More Day 3 results:

Great Britain's Katie Boulter

continued her strong summer run of form by stopping red-hot Wang Yafan, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4, to advance to the third round. She'll face another unseeded threat, the United States' , for a spot in the Round of 16. Stearns raced past 6-3, 6-0 in 66 minutes to make her second third round at a Slam this season.

17th seed and former semifinalist Madison Keys

needed just 54 minutes to ease past lucky loser Yanina Wickmayer 6-1, 6-2. She will face No.14 seed in the third round. Samsonova advanced after defeating 6-3, 6-3.

23rd seed Zheng Qinwen rallied past Kaia Kanepi to win 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. She will face Italy's Lucia Bronzetti

, who dropped just five games to German qualifier .

WTA Staff