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In what will be the first Top-10 battle of the 2019 Australian Open, No. 4 Naomi Osaka is set to take on No. 6 Elina Svitolina in what figures to be an electrifying quarterfinal matchup.
For those in the United States looking to watch, the match is scheduled to start Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET. It will be on before the ESPN2 broadcast starts for the night, but you can watch the entire match live on your computer, phone or streaming device via ESPN+, the new digital streaming service from ESPN (no cable subscription necessary) that will have coverage of all non-televised 2019 Australian Open matches.
You can start a free seven-day trial of ESPN+ right here, and you can then watch a live stream of Osaka vs Svitolina on your computer via ESPN.com, or on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One or other compatible streaming device via the ESPN app.
Osaka vs Svitolina Preview
After her breakthrough win at the US Open last year, the 21-year-old Osaka is looking to break a long-running trend.
Of the last 15 first-time Grand Slam winners on the women’s side, zero have followed that up with a semifinal appearance in the very next major. You’d have to go back to Kim Clijsters (2005 US Open winner; 2006 Australian Open semifinalist) to find the last women who accomplished that feat, while Jennifer Capriati (2001 Australian Open winner; 2001 French Open winner) is the last woman to pick up a second Grand Slam title right after her first.
Whether it’s the pressure to live up to new expectations, a lack of focus after reaching the pinnacle of the sport or any of other numerous potential reasons, it’s just hard to breakthrough for the first time and then immediately repeat that success with a target on your back.
So far in Melbourne, though, Osaka is having no such trouble.
She began the tournament with a couple of easy, straight-set victories over Magda Linette and Tamara Zidansek, then followed that up with come-back wins over Su Wei Hsieh and World No. 13 Anastasija Sevastova. She got off to slow starts against both Su and Sevastova, dropping the first set against both opponents, but she showed impressive resolve to fight back each time.
She found herself in a similar situation against Sevastova in Brisbane a couple weeks earlier, losing the first set only to claw back to the 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 win.
“I think the biggest thing for me is the belief,” Osaka said after beating Sevastova in Melbourne. “I think I believe in myself more this year than I have last year. Like in Brisbane, I played the same sort of match, like, I lost the first set and I managed to win again. And it was against the same player. So I think just having that experience.”
She likely won’t be able to afford to dig herself another hole against Elina Svitolina, the defending WTA Finals champion. The 24-year-old, who is seeking her first Grand Slam semifinal, needed a big comeback against Shuai Zhang in the third round, and she was pushed to three sets by Madison Keys in the fourth, but the World No. 6 has still looked very strong for the most part in Melbourne.
“I have played her multiple times now, and I know she’s a very consistent player and when she has the chance she does like to attack,” Osaka said. “I think playing her is going to be very difficult for me.”
These two played twice last year, with Svitolina winning in straight sets both times. Those (Dubai Tennis Championships, Miami Masters) were each at the beginning of the year before Osaka really began her ascent, though, so it will be interesting to see where they stack up now that both are ranked inside the Top 10.
The winner will play either tournament favorite and seven-time champion Serena Williams or No. 7 Karolina Pliskova in the semifinals.