Mertens stuns Svitolina to reach Melbourne semis

Elise Mertens of Belgium (left) shakes hands with Elina Svitolina of Ukraine after Mertens won their match. REUTER

MELBOURNE (Reuters): Elise Mertens produced another huge upset in a tournament littered with them when she thrashed fourth seed Elina Svitolina 6-4 6-0 to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open at the first attempt on Tuesday.

Ukrainian Svitolina was riding a nine-match winning streak this year but was outplayed by the 37th ranked Belgian in 73 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

The aggressive Mertens smashed 16 winners to win the opening set and held her nerve to keep up the pressure on the world number four in a one-sided second stanza.

After barely putting a foot wrong in the contest, the 22-year-old fired down a 26th winner to seal a date with Caroline Wozniacki or Carla Suarez Navarro in her first grand slam semi-final.