She is now famous enough in her native Ukraine to be stopped on the street but it seems there is no slowing down world No.6 Elina Svitolina in 2018.
Picking up where she left off from a stellar 2017 that made her a household name in her homeland, third seed Svitolina cruised into the Brisbane International quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Croatia’s Ana Konjuh on Wednesday.
Svitolina – ranked 38 spots higher than her opponent – bundled out the 20-year-old in just over an hour at Pat Rafter Arena to book a quarterfinal showdown with fifth seed Johanna Konta of Great Britain.
Two-time French Open quarterfinalist Svitolina continued last year’s fine form that thrust her into the limelight in Ukraine.
The 23-year-old claimed a tour best five WTA titles in 2017 to peak at world No.3.
However, her newfound fame came at a cost.
She admitted her two-week end-of-season “break” in her homeland became a blur as she was suddenly inundated by media requests and well-wishers.
“I was supposed to rest in Ukraine but I had no time to rest,” she said.
“I was five days in Kiev where I had to do lots of different stuff and lots of different commitments.”
Not that Svitolina was complaining about her sudden high profile.
She admitted she had been touched by the support of everyday fans, which had stopped her on the street since her 2017 streak.
“There are lots of kids coming and telling me that they are watching the matches and even grown-ups telling me that they are staying up at night and watching my matches,” she said.
“It’s good to hear this kind of thing because I don’t spend so much time in Ukraine.
“And when I go to Ukraine and I meet with the fans, it’s always amazing and I almost, you know, cry when I leave the meetings.
“So it’s extremely, extremely nice from them.”
The 23-year-old made short work of the youngest player in the top 50, thrashing 17 winners to capitalise on Konjuh’s 33 unforced errors.
The 2012 Brisbane International champion, Kaia Kanepi, continued her impressive comeback with a convincing 6-4, 6-3 result over Ashleigh Barty’s conqueror, Lesia Tsurenko. It is Kanepi’s fifth straight win having won through qualifying and she awaits the winner of Wednesday night’s match between defending champion Karolina Pliskova and American teenager CiCi Bellis.
Joining Kanepi in the quarterfinals is fellow qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich, with the Belarusian extending her giant-killing run with an epic comeback win over Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit.
World No.88 Sasnovich – ranked 54 spots lower than Kontaveit – hit back after being brushed aside in the first set to claim a 1-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 second-round win that lasted more than two hours.
The Belarus Fed Cup team member – who upset sixth seed Kristina Mladenovic in the first round in three tough sets – booked a quarterfinal clash with France’s Alize Cornet.