Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina firmed as a strong contender for the Australian Open title with a ruthless 6-3 6-0 demolition of Czech qualifier Denisa Allertova in the early hours of Monday morning. The 23-year-old fourth seed, one of four players who could leave Melbourne Park as world number one, took to Rod Laver Arena shortly before midnight and needed only 57 minutes to book her place in the quarter-finals. “I always take one match a time but winning that tournament in Brisbane gave me a lot of confidence. READ | Australian Open: Carla Suarez Navarro credits Justine Henin for old-school fightback“I’m very pleased with the way I’m playing here because it’s not the first time I’m going into the tournament as one of the favourites,” Svitolina added. “It’s more pressure but it also gives you confidence ... I’ll just try to do my best and see how it goes.”

Source: Hindustan Times January 21, 2018 14:48 UTC