Belgium’s Elise Mertens stunned fourth seed Elina Svitolina to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open.

Mertens had never been beyond the third round of a grand slam prior to arriving in Melbourne but has made rapid strides up the tennis ladder over the past year and raced to a 6-4 6-0 victory.

Mertens, 22, was not ranked high enough to get into the main draw 12 months ago but currently stands at 37 and is set to break into the top 20 by virtue of making the last four.

She was the aggressor against Svitolina, hitting 26 winners compared to just 14 for her opponent, and wrapped up a deserved victory and a date with either Caroline Wozniacki or Carla Suarez Navarro on Thursday.

Despite her lofty ranking, Svitolina was also looking to make her first slam semi-final but instead fell to her fourth quarter-final loss.

Nerves certainly seemed to play a part as the Ukrainian made uncharacteristic errors, especially at the big moments, while Mertens was able to swing freely.

The Belgian said: “I’m without words. I feel mixed emotions, all good emotions. I gave it all today. It was a little stressy at the end but I played my game and it went well today. She’s a great mover, a really strong player. I just tried to be aggressive.”

Mertens is the first Belgian player to reach the semi-finals here since former champion Kim Clijsters, at whose academy she trains, in 2011.

Addressing Clijsters, who was watching back home in the middle of the night, Mertens said: “I’m trying to be in your footsteps.”