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Elina Svitolina continued her dominant race against Johanna Konta with a 6-4 6-4 victory to make her first-ever semi-final appearance at the US Open.
The Ukrainian, fifth-seeded, who has won all her matches with the British, has qualified for the second straight time in the semifinal of the Grand Slam, after qualifying for the last square at Wimbledon in July.
Svitolina's strong base attack hurt 16th-seeded Konta, who made 35 non-forced mistakes, 22 more than his opponent, on a sunny day at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
"It's amazing," she said of the first player to reach the semifinals at the tournament this year.
"It was a very, very difficult match … I think we both hit the ball, it was pretty even," she said.
"I'm very happy with the way I handled the pressure."
Svitolina scored a 4-3 win in the second set, celebrating with a pompous emphatic fist in front of the crowd that included her boyfriend Gael Monfils, who plays her quarter-final on Wednesday.
Konta, however, continued to fight, saving two match points on her serve, but Svitolina ended the game in the next game when the British shot a long time.
Svitolina said the Frenchman Monfils had helped a lot during the tournament.
"I think we're pushing each other because we're trying to join the quarterfinals and now in the semifinals … so now he needs to improve his game," she said with a laugh.
The next step for Svitolina is a meeting with eighth-seeded Serena Williams, or eighth-seeded Wang Qiang, who will play their quarter-final match later on Tuesday.
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