Elina Svitolina put in serious work and come out with an important victory at the Pan Pacific Open Friday. The world number twenty dealt with the skills and struggles of French Open champion Garbine Muguruza to win a spot in the semifinals 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 at Ariake Coliseum on the ground of the Ariake Tennis Forest. Despite the second seed having 28 winners and seven aces, her downfall came in the shape of 43 unforced errors which was too much leverage to give up.
The two previously met four times with their first pair of meetings coming in qualifying rounds. Muguruza won those matches pre-Grand Slams but in recent years, it was Svitolina who gained the real edge. Things have gone positively for the two but not without a struggle. The Spaniard hasn’t been herself since winning the French Open. She made a good run in Cincinnati but before and after, she still hasn’t shown consistency.
Her opening round of the tournament was successful to make the top eight. The Ukrainian has handled both her matches winning in straight sets against formidable opponents. With Muguruza as her first major competition, the world number 20 required to tame the third ranked player in the world.
She did very well in the opening set maintaining a strong first serve while Muguruza continued to brush off the rust from her game. She couldn’t keep pace with the Ukrainian who did just better on returns while keeping a high percentage of both sides of her service. Svitolina’s performance allowed her to walk away with the set taking it six game to two over Muguruza.
The second was a turnaround for the Spaniard who needed a victory to make it a match against the 22-year-old. She came out guns blazing recording four aces throughout and landed 17 of 22. She continued to face Svitolina’s strong offense but tamed her on the returns where she struggled severely. Of the 22 opportunities the world number 20 had to return, she managed just five against Muguruza and two of six when it came to second returns. It was enough for her to fall out in the late stages giving the number two seed the set 6-4.
With a semifinal spot on the line, the two young players had to play consistent tennis while preventing unforced errors from taking a toll on their game. Fatigue clearly began to show on Svitolina and Muguruza who showed signs of trouble with their second serve. The Spaniard took it harder committing so many unforced errors that opened the door for Svitolina.
The Ukrainian found her chance to surpass Muguruza in the seventh despite her inability to win break points during the deuce draws on court. She brushed off the current problems and carefully made it into position to win the match 6-3 completing a big upset that took nearly two hours to finish.
“It was a great performance from me and I think we both played really well,” Svitolina said during her on-court interview. “In the second and third sets it was great tennis. I was playing well from the first point. Maybe Garbiñe didn’t expect this but it was a great match and I’m really happy that it finished my way.” She’ll get ready to face Japan’s final hope of a title in the tournament in Naomi Osaka on Saturday afternoon.
Photo by: Toshifumi Kitamura/Getty Images
No comments:
Post a Comment