Consistency and a strong output of offense sent Elina Svitolina into the round of 16 at the BNP Paribas Open Sunday. The 22 year old tenth seed had her skills on a high mark that overwhelmed Daria Gavrilova in a 6-2, 6-1 straight sets win on Stadium Four at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Both Svitolina and Gavrilova were even with three wins against one another. The Ukrainian recently defeated her in Beijing last season and a Fed Cup matchup this year. With two WTA titles won so far, the momentum she carried into the California desert had her on a path to picking up an even bigger moment for her career. Being pitted against her former doubles partner who she won a championship with, the world number 10 had to put differences aside and focus on the mission at hand.
The Ukrainian got into the heavy quick as Gavrilova came out challenging with her serves and returns that increased the speed and pace of the rallies. It was clearly a problem for Svitolina who fought through four games of it before getting a break. From the fifth game on she had her game warming up to the point that winning points became easier to gain. Gavrilova’s unforced errors also came into play as her second serve never came to fruition on seven attempts. Svitolina went on to take the set in 34 minutes with her responses on the returns assisting greatly to her lead in the match.
The second saw the 22-year-old on fire with her first serve that increased the winners on court to her name. With those and the Australian’s struggles to improve on both ends only made it easier for Svitolina. After the break of a brief tie early on, the world number ten brought the heat even harder to fly through games with ease. She finished off her 23-year-old opponent in 64 minutes that gave her a spot in the quarterfinals awaiting Garbine Muguruza who had a scare in her match but came out safely in three sets.
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