Svitolina captures seventh career WTA title at Istanbul Cup

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Elina Svitolina made three a charm at the BNP TEB Istanbul Cup Sunday evening. The number one seed completed the victory to capture her third WTA title of the season. Despite facing tremendous adversity from Elise Mertens the world number 13 won in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 Garanti Koza Arena. It was the seventh career title for the Ukrainian and the second to come on the clay surface.

This was the first meeting between the two Europeans and a critical one to determine who would walk away with the title. While Svitolina pursues her third title of the season, she’d do everything to avoid handing the Belgian a second career title. Mertens captured her first back in Hobart in a very long journey that took down Monica Niculescu in straight sets. She took down Irina Camelia Begu in the semis with a rough straight sets victory allowing the Romanian just two games. The key would be to limit the problems on her end while increasing the level of difficulty for the world number 13.

Getting that to happen was harder than she thought as the Ukrainian fired away on serve to beating the Belgian down with a good impression. The number one seed consolidated with a break and never looked back taking control of the occurrences on court to open her margin of victory. Svitolina turned it into a runaway very fast smashing the returns in the fourth to open the break points to her name. Mertens found ways of stopping her but couldn’t keep the pace on the rally.

The struggles for the Belgian allowed Svitolina plenty of room to fire shots on court and sweep up her third time on serve. It put all the pressure on Mertens to do something to save the set or suffer a rough outing going forward. She had two good responses including one near the net that leveled her on the score for the first time.

The speed of the ball was becoming a hard factor for the Belgian but she somehow forced deuce and found a way to defeat the number one seed with aces coming into play. She used the newfound confidence to break Svitolina in the seventh showing her best adversity to staying in the set. Svitolina denied Mertens a second chance at making it happen while on serve and held the Belgian off to complete the victory in 31 minutes.

Starting the second was a breeze for Svitolina who opened the margin high to dictate early. It wasn’t until the fourth that Mertens had a way to answer the Ukrainian and get dug in. She added another on the break but still found catching up very difficult. Svitolina led 4-2 but was having a rough outing in the seventh committing a double fault and unforced errors. It was enough to award Mertens a third win and threaten to level the set.

She battled hard on the serve delivering her best in the eighth to lock herself in a tie with Svitolina. The critical point for the Ukrainian came on serve in the ninth where gaining back control was imperative. Adding aggression to her control of the ground strokes gave her room to secure two game points and win on a ball landing wide from Mertens. The nerves ran heavy in the Belgian who served to stay in the match while Svitolina played her heart out for the title. She got the opening point with an attack that pushed her opponent to one end before the rally became too much.

The 21-year-old regrouped and took point with a lucky occurrence that Svitolina couldn’t overcome. A pair of unforced errors turned the game in favor of the number one seed who had match point but couldn’t get it done. Svitolina brought everything into the rally but couldn’t break Mertens who like her wanted to stay alive for as long as she could. A third long ball helped Svitolina gain back a second championship point that came on an angled winner to end the match in 1 hour and 15 minutes.

The success that Svitolina continues to carry this season brought her back to the ranking of tenth in the world sitting five points from ninth. She earned 43 thousand dollars for her tournament win and time to relax before her next chance at bringing home another title.

Mladenovic fights through Sharapova to win a spot in the Porsche Tennis GP finals

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Maria Sharapova’s run came to a thrilling end at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Saturday night.

Kristina Mladenovic was the one to bring the biggest challenge to the returning Russian star and beat her in three sets 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 at Porsche Arena in Stuttgart. The world number 19 added another important victory to her march for a WTA title this season.

It’s been four years since the two last faced one another with a fight that Sharapova came out by the skin of her teeth. Mladenovic left a good impression at Wimbledon in the first round where she pressed in the opening set while remaining a threat to Sharapova. The Russian did win in straight sets but knew that beating the French star was going to be difficult. In their semifinal matchup, the stakes are just as high with the spotlight on the Russian in her return to the sport. Keeping up the pace continues to be her most important factor in getting the match off to a good start.

She struck a good footing in the opening game and used the same tactics when playing the returns to Mladenovic. Despite not being able to win the break, the Russian made it clear of her intentions to being on the prowl for a lead change in the set. She took it on serve followed by a break that was handed to her on Mladenovic’s first double fault of the set. She made up for it in the fifth with an attack that got the best of Sharapova at times but wasn’t the solution to the problem.

The fifth game ended with the Russian still in control of her game leading to another step forward and a talk between Mladenovic and her mother/coach. The two understood that Sharapova was playing a very hard on the serve and that she should serve towards the target and go for the first chance she had on the ball during rallies. It helped produce another win for the Frenchwoman but knew that the reality of playing Sharapova straight up for a break was harder than ever at this stage.

The seventh wasn’t easy for Sharapova to notch for herself but a heavy effort in beating Mladenovic increased the level of pressure for her opponent to stave off an end of the set while in possession. She tried to change up her serve in hopes of keeping Sharapova guessing. She made it work to avoid an end twice so far but the former number one had a grip on her game. She finished service in the ninth with a strong push to victory that gave her the set in 35 minutes. The difference maker between the two who played evenly was the second serve of Mladenovic who won just 4 of 16 and 5 of 25 on the returns giving Sharapova so much comfort.

It was still the key to the Russian’s march to victory as she broke and consolidated it with a hold of Mladenovic. The 2-0 lead was something the French star knew she had to bring an end to and did it with a solid love service in the third that gave her some confidence but consistency would be needed to make something happen. She struck big for a double break point in the fourth to even with Sharapova gaining confidence more than ever in the match.

A third consecutive win for Mladenovic came on serve that turned the tide of control to the French star who had her first lead. A must win for Sharapova ended the French star’s winning streak delivering winners on court that she knew were necessary to reel the control back to her end. Mladenovic was not out of it as she fought to defend on serve in the seventh. Sharapova breathed down her neck but didn’t give up any cheap points while moving into deuce. She handled the pressure of what was at stake and sealed the victory on serve to set the bar for Sharapova to do the same.

It was a race to the finish line as Mladenovic and Sharapova traded off wins on their service that led them to an ultimate finish of the second set. The tenth came down to whether the French star could hold off the Russian for the break that looked possible for a time. Sharapova answered with such ferocity that she saved the set from ending and forced deuce giving her a chance to regroup.

With the set tied at five all, the mission was for one of the players to win the sixth game and carry a heavy advantage. It was turning into the longest game of the match for the two stars as Mladenovic did everything to hold on to her serve but Sharapova battled to break her and forced the breaks to come. Five had elapsed over the span of nine minutes but a winner was yet to be determined.

Two big winners after the break were the keys to beating the Russian for her to win the game and end 10 minutes and 48 seconds of play in Game 11. This was the first time Sharapova saw the threat of going down a set but as the two haven’t dropped one in the tournament, it was becoming inevitable in the second set that one would falter.

Mladenovic would be tested as Sharapova had the ball in the 12^th but the test really stood with the Russians who showed signs of weakness on serve. A critical double fault set Mladenovic for a chance to win the set and did so with a return that pushed the match to the distance for the first time between the two players.

It was turning into a neck and neck race with both on point during their service holds but with Mladenovic leading the way, it gave Sharapova some worry in her mind. Prior to the fourth game coach Sven Groeneveld came out to speak with his athlete and give her some confidence to go along with her strong game play. She was still putting in a lot of effort to beat Mladenovic on deuce digging deep to save the service hold and play forward.

The change came in the sixth after the French star had control in the score and was consistent with pressuring Sharapova to make a critical error and open the door for a break. Though it took time in the game, she managed to counter on a chance left open and take a 4-2 run giving her a huge chance to dictate. After making it 5-2, the nerves of Sharapova were quite clear on court that she had to do something amazing to stay in the competition.

The nerves were battling Sharapova’s offense where she made some errors on the serve but saved herself with an ace or winners against Mladenovic. Though it took a fight on deuce, she got a chance to play another game but it would take a lot for her to break the French star. Her returns allowed her to reach a double break and completed the victory that left her a game down from leveling the set.

While the Russian had a mission on her hands, the French star had her chance to battle and win the break by any means. She forced deuce with Sharapova where after a couple of breaks a net front rally of lobbed shots came down to a long one that Sharapova took a swing at but missed. The missed opportunity brought an end to a 2 hour and 38 minute bout that could have gone either way but had two results come from it.

“It wasn’t an easy match but I just tried to fight in there and it paid off,” Mladenovic said after the match. “I think the most important thing for me to do was to return her serve and she served brilliant short angles close to the line and it really not easy to return. Eventually I put some returns back, put pressure to be in the rally.”

Sharapova would move into the WTA rankings putting her into a tie with American Lauren Davis with 185 points. The inability of winning the tournament spells very little chance of the Russian entering the French Open next month. For Mladenovic, her next step to finals would be on whether she would face Simona Halep or last year’s finalist Laura Siegemund of Germany.

Svitolina moves into Istanbul Cup finals with straight sets defeat of Cepelova

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Elina Svitolina showed comfort and energy to get herself through to the finals of the BNP TEB Istanbul Cup. The world number 13 held off Jana Cepelova in the second set from forcing the game further and won 6-2, 6-3 at Garanti Koza Arena to advance to her first finals appearance in the tournament.

The number one seed last met Cepelova at Dubai in what was the beginning to her title run in the tournament. She handled the Slovakian for a third time on court allowing her less than four games in their last two meets. With another title in view for the Ukrainian her fierce offense had to be on point in order to take care of business quickly.

After a short start for the two, the Ukrainian made the push for leading the set with a break in the third. She put together some good points in the fourth that let her get Cepelova comfortable on the rallies before landing the redirects that gave her a 3-1 lead. She continued to Cepelova who had no answers for Svitolina who brought more speed to the ball increasing the pressure for her opponent. It was quickly 4-0 on a triple break point winner for the Ukrainian who had all the right answers.

Cepelova managed to end the shutout on her end in the fifth with a much-needed hold of serve that beat the number one seed on point. It was a short-lived moment for the Slovakian who suffered another blow in the sixth watching Svitolina run through the game with an offense that was hard to respond on.

Cepelova fought back on serve to save the game briefly on deuce until a winner handed her another win holding the set back from a finish. The ball returned to Svitolina who found herself down on the score losing focus but struck back with a key ace. She began to march back saving three break points to force deuce and set up set point where an 11-shot rally ended with a winner completing 34 minutes of play.

She was well in control of her destiny to play well with no signs of trouble to her end. She had three aces in the set while landing eight winners and minimizing the unforced errors. The success put holes in her opponent’s offense who also brought struggles with three double faults and 16 unforced errors that had to get better in the second.

The hold of serve in the second for Cepelova was important but her efforts to break Svitolina were still a heavy task. She got into a groove with a strong stance on serve in the third that was a clear challenge for the number one seed to push harder. A challenge arrived in the fifth where she saw Cepelova fight to deuce for the break. She put fear into Svitolina who somehow saved the break for herself taking a 3-2 lead.

The pace was once again back in Svitolina’s hands winning on serve to lower the confidence of her opponent. She put together a set of shots that beat Cepelova with winners to reach 5-2 and serve for a spot in the final. Cepelova wasn’t going to give up easily and broke ahead first in the eighth game. Svitolina got the nerves that busted her service with a double fault and errors that held the match from concluding. The Slovakian tried to do it again on serve and got a break with Svitolina blowing her second match point with a ball into the net. 

Three was naturally a charm for the Ukrainian who got a match point scoring on a winner to finish a 13-shot rally with Cepelova to avoid a slip of the set. It took her 1 hour and 13 minutes which was a breather compared to her recent bouts at different times of the evening. In her victory over Cepelova, Svitolina finished with a 60 percent first serve landing 17 winners and kept the unforced errors low to be the dominant one on court. With the chance for third WTA this season, the 22-year-old would await the winner between Irina Camelia-Begu and Elise Mertens on Sunday