Elina Svitolina squares off against Linda Noskova in the fourth round of the 2024 Australian Open on Monday (Sunday night ET) in the Margaret Court Arena. The Ukrainian, seeded 19th, will be in for a tough test against the teenager coming off the biggest win of her career.
This will be the first meeting between the two. Svitolina is one of the only six remaining top 20 seeds in the fray. She collected wins over Taylah Preston, Viktoriya Tomova, and Viktorija Golubic to reach the Round of 16. She has not dropped a single set. In fact, she has yet to lose more than three games in one set.
Noskova, on the other hand, has played two three-setters. After wins against #31 seed Marie Bouzkova and McCartney Kessler, she grabbed headlines with an upset over World No.1 Iga Swiatek in the third round. The four-time Grand Slam winner looked set for a routine victory after bagging the first set. However, the 19-year-old bounced back to win the next two and end Swiatek’s title challenge.
Svitolina is in impressive touch and playing aggressive tennis, converting at least five break points in all of her matches so far. Noskova, meanwhile, awed everyone with her powerful hitting against Swiatek. While she will be brimming with confidence after that win, it will be difficult for her to collect two big wins in a row.
Factor in that Svitolina is in rampaging form, it seems unlikely Noskova will repeat an upset victory. The Czech teenager has given up many break point opportunities and unlike her previous opponents, the 2018 WTA Finals champion will not fail to capitalise. The SportsRush predicts Elina Svitolina to win in straight sets.
The duo will cross paths on Monday, January 22, not before 1:30 p.m. local time (9:30 pm Sunday, January 21, ET). ESPN and Tennis Channel will stream the match in the USA. Temperatures are expected to be around 18°C in cloudy and humid conditions.
Elina Svitolina and Linda Noskova form guide
Elina Svitolina returned to the WTA Tour in April 2023 after giving birth in October 2022. She hit the ground running even after a year-long hiatus, winning the WTA 250 Internationaux de Strasbourg. She made it to the Wimbledon semi-finals but ended her season early after the US Open. The Ukrainian finished 2023 as World No.25, winning the 2023 WTA Comeback of the Year honour.
Her 2024 season got off to a great start. She defeated the likes of Caroline Wozniacki, Emma Raducanu, and Marie Bouzkova to reach the final of the ASB Classic in Auckland. She entered the Australian Open as World No.23, with a great 4-1 record for the year.
After failing to qualify in 2023, Linda Noskova made her Australian Open debut this year. She became a WTA Tour regular only in 2023, making it to two finals. She bagged wins over the likes of Victoria Azarenka, Petra Kvitova, and Ons Jabeur last year. The Czech youngster jumped 50 places to end 2023 ranked No.41.
She also had a good start to the 2024 season, reaching the semi-finals of the Brisbane International. She arrived in Melbourne as World No.50, also 4-1 in 2024. The winner of this clash will face either Azarenka or Dayana Yastremska in the quarter-finals.
