Elina Svitolina used her strengths to advance to the finals of the Taiwan Open Saturday. The number one seed held firm against Mandy Minella in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 at Taipei Arena in the semifinal. The Ukrainian minimized her unforced errors in the match while landing 29 winners that helped her stay out front against her unranked opponent.
The world number 13 faced her biggest challenge Friday dealing with the exceptional play of Ons Jabeur who forced the Ukrainian to a tight three setter that required a tiebreaker. The skills of the number one seed put her into the semifinals to face another foe from last year at the US Open. Svitolina saw adversity from the Luxembourg native in a three-set opening round that had her nervous but able to coast to victory. While she won’t be able to play relaxed, the experienced top 20 player sits one away from starting off the season as the seventh woman to win a title in 2017.
Things began with Svitolina showing her service in good shape to start the set. Minella followed up the second game with a good hold of serve on the number one seed. Both players stayed on service through six till a break in the seventh went to the Ukrainian. She quickly reached 5-3 breaking Minella for the first time that gave her a chance to lock down an early stance. It took her just 38 minutes to achieve a strong hold in the set landing 17 of 21 on the opening serve despite a rough second service.
Her game improved going into the second set where she landed her fourth ace of the match to gain an early 2-0 hold. After gaining another break in the third, it was becoming clear that Svitolina had all the momentum to run away with the set and get into the finals. She picked up her seventh straight game holding serve in the fourth maintaining a powerful stance against the 31-year-old.
She got a little loose in the fifth game reaching two break points before Minella made a stance on serve. She fought back to deuce where she broke Svitolina from gaining the advantage twice before getting on the board with a sharp ace across court. Knowing that she could allow the Luxembourger anymore running room, the 22-year-old gained an important serve in the sixth to play for a finals spot in the seventh.
Minella was on the edge of defeat hoping that she could play on for another game. The two went to deuce where Minella showed good control to get the hold of serve but going into the eighth meant a big challenge with Svitolina back on the ball to serve for the match. The world number 13 blasted through the game with a perfect hold of service with fourth straight winners against Minella that brought an end to the match in one hour and eight minutes.
“I just try to focus and put all my power into the game,” said Svitolina when asked about her run through the match against Minella. In what will be another important matchup, Svitolina would fight for another WTA title against China’s Shuai Peng who she faced back in 2014. “I didn’t think about it yet,” Svitolina said laughing. “She’s quite confident and she plays really good so I’m gonna try to focus on my game which is what matters tomorrow.” With the leverage of their series in the hands of Chinese star, both popular players would more than give it their all for a chance at victory and points in the standings.
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