14 February 2020

World No 86 Nao Hibino stuns No 1 seed Elina Svitolina to reach semi-finals of GSB Thailand Open

World No 5 Elina Svitolina was stunned in the semi-finals of the GSB Thailand Open as she crashed out to Japan's Nao Hibino.

The Ukrainian, who was the No 1 seed for the tournament based in Hua Hin, was beaten 6-4 6-2 by the world No 86.

Hibino will now face Switzerland's Leonie Kung for a place in the final on Sunday.

After all six of the opening games went with serve, Svitolina was broken twice in quick succession.

And despite pulling a break back of her own inbetween, the Japanese underdog held on to clinch the opening set.

The second set was a much more one-sided affair as Hibino began to dominate Svitolina from the back of the court.

The two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist lost five games in a row as she was broken three times, capitulating to the surprise of the Thai crowd.

A mini fightback towards the end of the match saw Svitolina threaten, before Hibino served out the match to move into the last four.

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