Elina Svitolina got into the semifinals of the Taiwan Open by the skin of her teeth Friday. Feeling the pressure of a three setter, the number one seed put her best to outdueling Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur winning 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(4) on centre court at Taipei Arena
Svitolina continues on her march for a title this season and had a great chance to do so facing Jabeur. Despite not meeting again since 2012, the Ukrainian had certainly moved up in the ranks since their ITF match in La Marsa where the then 17-year-old Svitolina handled her own in a straight sets win. The world number thirteen and number one seed in the tournament had plenty on her hands against Lucie Hradecka Thursday. Though she got another straight sets win under her belt, the now 22-year-old would hope for similar results against the Tunisian.
She opened the match with a hold of serve followed by her attempts to get the break on Jabeur. The Tunisian put up on heck of a fight to hang on and not be thrown for one early on. It took the 22-year-old a lot of effort gaining back a hold after two breaks winning the game point on a net front backhander.
Jabeur challenged in the third in her run for the opening break but the Ukrainian held her end of things to remain on serve. The third became the ultimate turning point for Svitolina as her push on Jabeur broke things apart. The Tunisian had things in control on deuce, but a mistake on the break lost her the control giving the world number 13 the 3-1 lead. It opened further as soon as Svitolina got the ball to serve. She rushed through the fifth game with dictation that it followed further on into the set.
She coasted to a 6-1 victory in the set gaining the final break that it took to close things out in 26 minutes. Svitolina served at 52 percent but managed far better landing 9 of 11 points on the first serve and 7 of 10 on the second. With her opponent struggling on the other side of her service, the non-ranked tennis star needed a lot to change going into the second.
She got to a solid start with the hold of serve; consolidating it with a fight against Svitolina’s serve. The 22-year-old played tremendously on the returns getting the best of the number one seed to break her for a 2-0 lead. Things got quickly out of hand as Jabeur built a surprising 3-0 hold on Svitolina. The Ukrainian got things back to normal with an important hold of service hoping to reeling Jabeur back in.
She got within a game of leveling up with her, but on her service in the tenth Jabeur pulled off a key break that gave her all the momentum. She took the 5-3 lead over Svitolina putting the finishing touches on the set that saw her hold serve in the ninth thereby setting up a deciding third set. One hour and two minutes had elapsed in the match with both showing quick pace but with things even, it became an important moment for Svitolina to regain control or see her tournament life in danger.
Jabeur set the pace for the number one seed staying out front the moment both leveled in the opening games of the set. Although Svitolina leveled in her games on serve, she continued feeling the pressure as the Tunisian tennis star climbed back in control setting the bar higher as the set went deeper. The eighth game saw Jabeur serving at 4-3 hoping to gain another step while it was possible. She earned a huge applause with the service hold putting Svitolina in a dangerous spot of losing the match. The Ukrainian racked up unforced errors in the game handing Jabeur free points along the way. The Tunisian did the exact same when she had match point making things very interesting on deuce.
At every chance that Jabeur had to lock down the upset, Svitolina fought during the rallies to stay alive and gain leverage. After a couple of bad returns from the 22-year-old, Svitolina ran with the small amount of momentum that kept her alive for another game. The critical point of the set for Svitolina came to whether or not she could break Jabeur in the tenth. Giving it all she had on court, the world number 13 played well under the pressure winning on the double break to force her opponent to the distance.
Jabeur’s response was solid in the 11th getting another break off Svitolina that again put the number one seed under the gun. Pulling the trigger was the biggest problem for Jabeur as every one of her shots landed just outside on the rallies. It led to Svitolina’s greatest comeback of the tournament that gave her a chance to win it on a tiebreak.
Jabeur had problems early with the forehand that gave Svitolina an early lead. The Tunisian turned her game around to get back to level terms with the number one seed standing halfway to seven points. Svitolina made the push after tying up at four all getting her two-point margin on a fast paced rally that ended right in front of the net getting the point. The victory for the world number 13 came on a short rally that landed long from Jabeur allowing Svitolina to breathe a sigh of relief held in for 1 hour and 55 minutes it took to complete.
Unforced errors and double faults played a huge role in how the final set came to be. Though she had four double faults and less than 20 unforced errors, the pace and opposition would only get difficult with the target on her back still active. She’ll await the Saturday afternoon matchup against the winner between Mandy Minella of Luxembourg and Lin Zhu of China.
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