Tennis: Svitolina dispatches Raducanu in Auckland three-setter

Auckland, Jan 4 (IANS) Ukraine's Elina Svitolina halted Emma Raducanu's comeback in the second round of the ASB Classic, battling into the quarterfinals 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 6-1 in 2 hours and 49 minutes.

No.2 seed Svitolina fought back from a set down against Raducanu to set a quarterfinal with No. 5 seed Czech player Marie Bouzkova, who dismissed Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-1 on Wednesday.

A narrowly-contested encounter saw Raducanu hold off a late Svitolina charge in the first set, edging the tiebreak despite losing a 5-1 double-break lead.

Raducanu, playing her first tournament following an eight-month injury layoff, seemed to be on the verge of victory when she led 3-1 in the second-set tiebreak, only for Svitolina to rattle off 10 straight points to level the match.

But, the Ukrainian then motored through the decider as No.301-ranked Briton faded.