Elina Svitolina breathed a huge sigh of relief in a very lopsided first round at the BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup Wednesday night. The world number 13 overcame serious danger of falling out as the number one seed to Russia’s Victoria Kamenskaya to win 6-4, 0-6, 6-1 at Garanti Koza Arena. The meeting against the Russian was one of her toughest opening round matches this season that nearly went sour fast.
The number one seed gets back to the season after a month off hoping to rack up more titles at the start of the clay court season. The world number 13 got started in her third appearance at the tournament facing an unknown Russian who made her first career WTA main draw. The Ukrainian carried more than a heavy advantage having won the tournament twice albeit in doubles play. With experience in doubles play and every inch of the courts, it was likely for her to coast through the opening round against the 25-year-old.
She handled the first game but didn’t expect get a response from her opponent on her opening serve. The Russian fired away with perfection on the serve that beat Svitolina for the even keel to the set. She consolidated a break that put the Ukrainian on notice going on. Svitolina answered with a triple break but saw it erased by her own unforced errors forcing deuce. The effort put in by Kamenskaya to pressure the world number 13 to her left had her working hard to keep the lead in her name. The two opened to four breaks where after five break attempts, Svitolina managed to get the win to level up through four.
She regained the lead on service in the fifth and kept her foot on the gas against Kamenskaya. The number one seed captured her first triple break that widened the gap in the hopes that her work could produce the result she wanted. It was up to the Russian on whether she could hold her off. It was becoming a very difficult task especially when it came to breaking Svitolina for a second time. It only resulted in a 5-2 commanding hold for the Ukrainian who put all her might into breaking Kamenskaya on serve.
It was a task that saw her going to deuce with the 25-year-old that lasted five breaks but the tenacity from the Russian earned her another win but still in danger of falling down a set. Kamenskaya was not giving anything easy to her strong opponent who clearly showed struggle to get the job done as she found herself gaining ground in the set. Knowing the consequences of blowing the set, Svitolina brought a defense in the tenth that saw her gain three break points before they all were matched by Kamenskaya who forced deuce at a critical moment once more.
It was the most dramatic game played so far as Kamenskaya saw herself saving the points on net front rallies and lop marathons with Svitolina until she couldn’t do it anymore. It took the Ukrainian nine set point attempts before she capped the set at 6-4 completing 55 minutes. For the Russian, her debut was turning into a fine one with a 73 percent first serve despite playing her overall below average. The points won on the break and her response on the returns allowed her to making it a very rough opening round for Svitolina who kept her composure and serve together despite having so many unforced errors in the first.
The second wasn’t going to be any easier for her world number 13 who saw the Russian fire off a break win for herself to start. She made it 2-0 on serve making it clear that she was going to do all to get the match on an even keel for herself. She put three games between herself and Svitolina having everything go well on her offensive and defensive stance on court. On her second serve in the set, Kamenskaya held a struggling Svitolina to just a point in the fourth before completing the victory and a runaway in play. Svitolina tried desperately to make something happen on her server before it was too late, but the damage had been done leading her to lose control and watch the Russian move closer to a shutout in the second.
It seemed that nothing could stop Kamenskaya from falling in any situation to Svitolina as she once again dealt with the Ukrainian’s serve preventing breaks to force her to deuce. Though it took her some time Kamenskaya got the job done to send the two do the distance. It was a very bad outing for Svitolina whose numerous unforced errors affected every part of her game let alone her state of mind. She won just 3 of 10 on the first serve and two of seven in the second needing a huge turnaround while she had the chance.
Before the third could get underway, Svitolina called out the trainer in response to not feeling so well. After a brief check, they allowed her to continue with her opening the third on serve. She held serve firmly with a heavy improvement to get the win outright from Kamenskaya. Wanting to add more, the Ukrainian used her energy to break her opponent and create a margin she hoped could hold firm.
It did with another step forward on the serve followed by a tremendous break giving her the feeling that she had all her power back to make good on finishing strong. She was forced to let up in the fifth as Kamenskaya had something to prove when Svitolina opened the window for a comeback on her service game. The Russian ran with the break point ending the shutout and what she hoped to be more.
Svitolina didn’t let her do much on serve attacking on the returns gaining ground quickly. She closed it out with a winner away from the 25-year-old that gave her a 5-1 hold and the chance to serve for the match. She did it putting all her heart into hold an important serve that resulted in her victory. She breathed a sigh of relief after capturing match point that brought an end to the 1 hour and 55-minute bout. The Ukrainian had a high 50 unforced errors but saved the match with 33 winners and 83 combined points.
With much to meditate on, the number one seed would hope for a fresh start facing Alexandra Cadantu of Romania in the second-round Thursday.
No comments:
Post a Comment