Elina Svitolina’s run came to a screeching halt at the Brisbane International Friday. The sixth seed in the tournament saw her semifinal end quickly at the hands of Czech Republic star Karolina Pliskova who won in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 in quick fashion on Pat Rafter Arena at Queensland Tennis Centre.
The Ukrainian got another big win against Angelique Kerber that put her one step away from a final’s appearance to start the new year. The history between her and Pliskova hasn’t been the best but her win at last year’s Hopman Cup allowed her to end the four-game losing streak spanning five years. With so much momentum going her way, the world number 14 hoped to be able to get another win on the Czech star.
She started off with a love service to start the match but faced adversity when Pliskova got hold of the ball. She laid down shots that Svitolina couldn’t return back making big moves during the rallies. Pliskova went on to win the first break attempting to set the pace against the sixth seed. The third seeded successfully held serve creating a three-game streak for herself combining winners that were just out of reach for the Ukrainian.
She put an end to Plsikova’s early dictation of the set holding serve in the fifth to close within a game. The challenge came to consolidating a break against the Czech star who had an agenda in play. Though she had to fight for the hold of serve in the sixth, Pliskova’s fight for the game point led to her gaining back the grip she had on Svitolina. She got out to 40-0 on the break but saw the 22-year-old fire back with a statement. Svitolina forced deuce a second time in her attempts to hold serve which didn’t end well for her.
The Czech powerhouse broke Svitolina apart before going on to close out the set in her favor that took 32 minutes to accomplish. Both suffered on the second serve with Pliskova edging her enough to make a difference. With that and her first serve at 94 percent, it was clear that her push to victory would more than likely flow well into the second set.
Pliskova came into it with a level up on Svitolina scoring a love service as her response. Svitolina played her serve in the third as an important stance to keep the chances of staying around for much longer. Though it proved difficult for the Ukrainian, she managed to break Pliskova in the fourth to remain level with her for as long as possible. The fifth was her chance to take the lead away pushing to an early 30-0 hold before winning the game and holding Pliskova to a lone point.
The Czech answered fiercely as soon as she got back on serve firing a winner, an ace and a shot that Svitolina could not get back into the court. The response put the world number 14 in a position to hold her serve at every chance or face troubles going forward. The seventh went to Pliskova as her momentum was too much for Svitolina to handle. The loss of her serve opened the door wide for the Czech who got back to serve in the eighth and took the win leading 5-3 with the match in sight.
Svitolina was on the edge but fired off three good shots to go up 40-0. Game point came easily for the 22-year-old as Pliskova failed to return it shot correctly. The Czech wasn’t out of trouble with the score separating the players by a game. With a loss on serve, it would give Svitolina a shot at capturing the set. She never got the chance as Pliskova remained calm and collected to shut down the sixth seed and secure a match victory in one hour and four minutes.
Pliskova ended the night with stunning statistics that had Svitolina off her marks at times. The Czech scored seven aces in the match with her first serve dominating on points. She landed 27 of 28 that devastated the returns across court. With near perfection coming against a difficult player, the third seed would have plenty of work cut out of her going into the final but would still face an experienced opponent in Alize Cornet on Saturday night.
No comments:
Post a Comment