Elina Svitolina had another nail biter on her hands at the Italian Open. This time it was at the hands of Karolina Pliskova who she had never defeated before until Friday evening. The world number 11 held on to fight through a 21-point tiebreak in the second set winning her way into the semifinals 6-2, 7-6(9) at Next Gen Arena at Foro Italico in Rome. It was her first victory in WTA action against the world number three and one she will never let down.
A seventh meeting came to action for the two top players of the sport with the Czech carrying a strong hold in the series. She’s won the last five of six with two coming on clay but her game on the surface hasn’t been at its best since. So far this season, the world number three hasn’t gotten up to speed in the previous pair of tournaments.
With the French Open fast approaching, Pliskova has shown progress in Rome with straight sets in her first two matches that out her in new territory. With her history of taking down the Ukrainian it would be up to her response to move into the semifinal. Svitolina had a three-set match yesterday but with the way it ended in a double bagel the confidence boost gives her plenty of fight to bring to the 25-year-old.
Svitolina opened with a solid service hold as Pliskova made some unforced errors early on. The same results came from the second as the Czech didn’t feel great on the thick clay slowing her down to respond to the shots from the Ukrainian. She raced into a 3-0 lead as Pliskova put a little too much on the returns that landed long on a few occasions. The victories only increased the confidence level in the experienced 22-year-old to keep going in the right direction while it presented itself.
She reached a 16-game winning streak from the other day after winning a fourth on the day. Just when it looked as if she had another bagel on the horizon, her serve worked in favor of Pliskova who wanted nothing more than to bring an end to the shutout. The problems came back to haunt the 25-year-old as she allowed Svitolina to regain a full comeback and force deuce. It came down to a shot landing wide that gave the Czech a way out of trouble and win the break.
Although her game was still sluggish, she had control of beating Svitolina in the rallies that sent the young Ukrainian from side to side before landing a winner was easy for Pliskova. Losing out on a second game didn’t bother the world number 11 as she had her serve still under control resulting in another victory that put her closer to a lead in the match.
Pliskova’s serve was still struggling to find the control and power to do well but instead handed the Ukrainian set point to fall down 1-0 in the match after 29 minutes. The Czech was playing well below par with a second serve in the basement. Her 14 unforced errors and the Ukrainian on a roll meant that something had to be done to improve.
With the conditions on the court improving for both sides, the leverage continued to sit with Svitolina who was on another winning streak. Pliskova found herself down on serve in the second showing signs of fatigue and discomfort on court. Those symptoms vanished in the third as she battled in the third pushing for the break. A very well played stance gave her that win to end the shutout and get within a game of Svitolina for the first time.
The world number three saw a consolidation come together as she produced a strong fight on serve to move into a tie with Svitolina, keeping the set tighter than the first. They were on serve through six but a break chance for Pliskova arrived with improvements coming together to form an attack on Svitolina. She had to go to deuce with the 22-year-old but in end held the advantage to get out front for the first time in the match.
Embracing the challenge in front of her, the Czech showed acceleration and took a 5-3 lead with Svitolina on the edge of losing the set. A key hold of serve gave her a win to stay alive but still under pressure from Pliskova who was on fire. The Ukrainian took a conference with coach Andrew Bettles to get some advice on how to deal with the short game that the Czech suddenly delivered. He gave her words of calm that helped her get into the tenth with a break chance that she won by a wide landing of the ball.
Svitolina served for a lead change in the 11th holding off the Czech for an important stance that inched her closer to knocking out the competition. She had nerves on court in the 12th that saw her and Pliskova move into a tiebreaker that had only two ways of going. Svitolina opened with an ace but watched as her opponent won a seven-shot rally with a line driver winner to start things off.
The Czech tried widening the gap but on a rally for the sixth point, Svitolina got focused on the pace and set up a redirect that put her a point down. An unforced error got her leveled at four all followed by another that put the Ukrainian in front. The tables turned with Svitolina recording errors that got her in trouble with seven points needed. Pliskova gave the 22-year-old a chance with a ball into the net sending the tiebreak further along.
The game looked to be over as Pliskova went up 7-6 but on a return from Svitolina thought to be out, the ball actually hit the line to level the game at seven all. She still found herself in trouble as the Czech moved her way to another set point chance. The errors only brought things back to level pegging with Svitolina carrying a chance to dictate her way to victory. Svitolina landed an ace for match point but the following rally ended with Pliskova in control of the returns.
The forehand once more gave Svitolina another match point which she locked down on a final unforced error that ended another thrilling tiebreaker that gave her an 11-9 win after 1 hour and 32 minutes. While the Czech had an impressive rally of her skills on a surface she’s not very keen to, the battle she gave to try and force a third set had many on the edge of their seats. The Ukrainian had her tenacious spirit and a solid first serve to stave off a three setter and await her first semifinal at the tournament. She’ll await the winner between Garbine Muguruza and American veteran Venus Williams on Saturday.
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