Muguruza brings Svitolina, winning streak to a halt at BNP Paribas Open

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Garbine Muguruza sped her way to the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open Tuesday. The seventh seeded Spaniard overcame a rough two sets to rush through the final set beating Elina Svitolina 7-
6(5), 1-6, 6-0 on Stadium Three at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The victory snapped Svitolina’s 16 game winning streak in a topsy turvy bout on the hard court.

The two met for a fifth time in their history dating back to 2012 when they fought each other in major qualifications. Since then, the Spaniard has been unable to defeat the 22-year-old losing twice in Dubai and Tokyo later in the season.  While the world number two fell to seventh in the ranks, Svitolina found herself inching closer into the single digits at a point where she truly stands as a threat for anyone. The world number ten got through her first two matches that including a solid finish against Daria Gavrilova. Muguruza wasn’t so lucky fighting off American Kayla Day who threatened to pull off an upset. The Spaniard would have a much harder time as the path to a semifinal proved difficult than ever.

She performed well right from the start getting a service hold before fighting Svitolina on her serve. The draw ran a few breaks before the speed of Muguruza’s pace beat her opponent for a 2-0 hold. The seventh seed was on fire devastating the 22-year-old with some hard shots that roughed up her returns. She managed just one of six and a second serve that struggled through three games.

She started getting into a groove in the fourth landing winners and forcing shots that Svitolina knew weren’t coming back. It all resulted to a strong love service that got her on the board just in time. While she avoided the shutout, she still found herself in a deep whole as Muguruza performed another service hold to lead 4-1.

Svitolina’s performance was alive and well but it came together at the wrong time as the seventh seed had been running full throttle since the start. Muguruza reached 5-2 with the Ukrainian trying to bring the energy to stay alive or suffer going down a set. She double faulted but recovered with two aces. It gave her another game to defend against the Spaniard who served for the set in the ninth.

A key break proved difficult for Svitolina as she had her chance to put the game away but opened the door for Muguruza to counter. A chance to turn the tables came to the world number ten who got on the advantage and locked up the game. The focus became to force the set deep and get a chance at making a full recovery of the match. A downfall from the Spaniard on unforced errors opened the door wider for Svitolina to get level in the set and fight for control.

She was clearly on a mission to dictate stepping up her game to rattle things on the other end. Her plan worked as the errors began to show up for Muguruza who was on the edge of defeat. The 10^th seed earned her first opportunity to serve for the set but felt the pressure of getting it done. Muguruza made that even harder wanting nothing more than to force the tiebreak. That was the ultimate direction of the set which Muguruza made happen on serve to leave herself a chance.

It was a race to the finish line with each player earning a point that kept the score even through six rallies. The seventh turned into the change of tide in favor of the Spaniard who won the next two points. Her strategy of bringing the game in worked against her as the Ukrainian came in but messed up on her serve at 5-4. It gave the seventh seed set point for a second time but was denied for a moment. She brought an end to her battle with perfect ball placement that beat Svitolina after 57 minutes of play.

The world number 10 had nothing to be disappointed about the opening set as her comeback was truly a response to challenge further on. She proved that in the start of the second getting the hold followed by break win that took some time on deuce. Another hold of serve gave Svitolina a commanding lead over Muguruza in what she hoped would be a lengthy push forward.

She surpassed the halfway point of reaching the set gaining a second consecutive break; having everything under control. She had 8 of 12 on the first serve and was flawless when her second serve came into play. Muguruza needed to bring something to the table and did so with an important break in the fifth. The errors from Svitolina made things easier for the Spaniard to make a start at pulling off the same path her opponent did in the first.

Svitolina didn’t want that happening while she had such leverage in the second pulling off the break in the sixth that put her in the drivers seat to bring it home. The 22-year-old launched a winner to set up triple set point before a long return ending the set in 28 minutes. It was truly a lopsided scenario after two in which Muguruza used all her efforts in the first only to flop in the second. s A talk with coach Sam Sumyk came during the break giving her advice on how to counter the energy Svitolina brought to the court.

She did just that with a good response but getting through her opening service with ease wasn’t in the cards. Svitolina came out challenging right from the first point but couldn’t break the Spaniard from earning that victory. Muguruza consolidated things with another victory that needed the same degree of effort to widen the gap on Svitolina. Using all her skills to fight on deuce, the seventh seed came out on top pressuring Svitolina to create the key errors that took her out of a rhythm.

it didn’t stop her opponent from fighting through every game as she pushed Muguruza into a third consecutive battle. The result continued to go in favor of the Spaniard who gave Svitolina no room for success lead to a 3-0 score in the final set. The first official break went in favor of Muguruza who jumped out to a break point before securing it. The Spaniard clearly ran away with all the momentum quieting the Ukrainian to play for quarterfinal spot.

Svitolina had very little chance of coming from 0-5 and pulling off a miracle. She played points one at a time where in the end a long ball on match point gave Muguruza the bagel, the set and the match in 1 hour and 53 minutes. Despite having a bad second serve, Muguruza had a first serve at 73 percent landing 13 of 16 and solid returns.

All of those qualities would have to follow into Wednesday match where she'll face Czech star and world number three Karolina Pliskova