Bethanie Mattek-Sands earned a terrific birthday present at the Miami Open Thursday night. The American devastated world number 10 Elina Svitolina 7-5, 6-4 on Court Two at Crandon Park Tennis Center.
The high ranked Ukrainian has defeated the American twice since 2014 but none of their meetings came easy to win. Mattek-Sands puts her heart and energy into every game making life difficult for those that stand in her way. The 21-year-old gave it her best against Katerina Siniakova winning a tough three setter to get into this position. Svitolina hoped that despite her loss to Muguruza at Indian Wells, that she could start another longstanding winning streak and go for another big WTA title to her name.
A positive start on the return helped Svitolina take the lead in the opening game with Mattek-Sands putting a little too much speed on the ball. She made up for it in the second pushing the returns with her skills playing doubles. It led to a confident victory to go on with more of it. The American gave it her all in the third playing out the longest game of the match to come out front on the leaderboard against Svitolina.
Not wanting to be trailing, the world number ten fought back on serve to level things at four despite underperforming on the first serve. It was very clear to the American who continued to attack the current weakness of her opponent and regain the lead. Her use of the drop shots near the net were beating Svitolina big in the sixth but the fight from the Ukrainian was out. Unforced errors helped her save two break points sending the players to deuce before coming out with the set once again evened.
Mattek-Sands was in control of her service and dictated strongly enough to beat Svitolina in front of the net. The Ukrainian showed frustration with the current situation needing a difference maker to occur. She took a talk from her coach who suggested to change up the pace and make her work harder for points.
After Mattek-Sands completed her medical timeout, play resumed with the world number 10 bringing improvements on court. While it helped her on serve, defending against the American was still a problem. The victory proved that it was going to remain a very tight push to the finish with either one coming out ahead.
The American had her chance to win the break and the set but Svitolina denied her that with an ace to save herself from certain disappointment. She added heat to her serve which got the best of Mattek-Sands. It led the set into further games where the momentum Svitolina carried gave her life. Despite all her energy to be the front runner, the newly turned 32-year-old denied her opponent any comfort taking a 6-5 hold for a chance at a big lead in the match.
She pulled out three set points before Svitolina got control of the ball to land an ace. It was too little too late as she fell to the American who won the key point ending 65 minutes of play. The workhorse in her first serve was above average as well as her key point wins on the break. Svitolina’s trouble returning put her in a situation she didn’t feel comfortable in but knew what to expect once again. That and the wind didn’t help her efforts to find control with the ball on serve or returns unable to adjust to it.
Before the second set could begin, rain fell upon the open court that suspended things until the chance to play could resume. After an 80-minute delay, the two began the second set with Mattek-Sands in control of the ball. It resulted in a key break for Svitolina who came in with a lot more energy and power to lead and gain confidence along the way. She remained in a tie with the American who still had a higher degree of response each time.
Svitolina took her down a few pegs with a big answer in the fifth breaking Mattek-Sands in the process. The world number ten showed more power by holding things together to consolidate a second victory giving her first big lead of the match. The winning streak for the Ukrainian was short lived as a hold from the birthday girl got her back within reach through seven. Gaining the tie on the break gave her a push to go for it all.
A big hold in the ninth had Svitolina on the ropes as she served to stay alive. It was too much for her to deal with the consistent of Mattek-Sands drop shots that earned her a spot in the third round as the best birthday present ever. She concluded one of the biggest wins for her this season in 1 hour and 48 minutes with every notion to celebrate the remainder of the day. She’ll await the winner between Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Yaroslava Shvedvova.
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