Elina Svitolina continued to make her best run at Wimbledon count Friday. The world number five dominated Carina Witthoeft in the opening set followed by a tough comeback but held to win 6-1, 7-5 on Court Three at the All England Tennis Club. It advanced her another step in the right direction making the round of 16 for the first time.
The world number five found herself in new territory with a new opponent in front of her. The Ukrainian’s advancement into the third round for the first time has her in a slight disadvantage as the German reached this spot for the first time last year. Knowing what’s at stake is well known by the two but in terms of pace, the fourth seed has her eyes set on continued glory on the grass courts.
The Ukrainian was very much in control at the start of the opening set, dominating Witthoeft on the serve and on her very own. After just 13 minutes, Svitolina opened up to a 4-0 sweep answering everything the German had on the ball when she got it in. Despite serving well under 50 percent on both sides of the serve, her efforts in the fifth to force deuce with Svitolina paid off to avoid the dreaded bagel so early in the match.
When the fourth seed got the ball back in hand, she rushed to a fifth win and played for the set on Witthoeft’s service. She stayed ahead of the German on the scoreboard and capped the match lead in 22 minutes. The Ukrainian had 81 percent of shots in the court keeping the second serve very close with an ace in hand.
The second set saw a better response from Witthoeft as she managed to take control of her serve winning by two game points in the second. The victory allowed the pace to slow down a bit against the Ukrainian who showed a little more struggle. It appeared to get even as Witthoeft fought on serve to fight on deuce and take the game getting even for the first time in the match.
Svitolina answered the response from her opponent and began opening the gap once more in the set. It was quickly a 4-2 hold but the German was not out of the running as she showed moments of high competitive spirit in her game. A big triple break came from her end in the seventh making the final point difficult for Svitolina to return. It was back to a game down with Witthoeft on serve and her efforts paid off huge to believe in her game, showing better form on offense which led to a tie at four all with the Ukrainian.
The lead change arrived in the ninth as frustrations from Svitolina became very high that the German immediately fed on. Witthoeft’s fight for control saw the ground strokes on the forehand increase the nerves of the world number five. Svitolina’s serve took a beating against the German leading to her chance to serve for the set. A push for the break from the Ukrainian began with good response on the returns that led to strategic ball placement for the points. Holding the break firmly, the 22 year old forced Witthoeft to play on hoping to regain a footing while it was at hand.
A strong service hold ended in a shutout of the German giving her the chance to play for the match pressuring Witthoeft. Know what was at stake, the 22 year old fought with all her might to get out front in the score and hold serve against Svitolina. The moment came where a short rally ended bad for the German with a forehand shot into the net ending the 1 hour and 10 minute bout.
Despite the battle against tremendous adversity, Svitolina kept the first serve running well landing 24 of 3 and 9 of 17 on the second serve. Her 27 winners and 12 unreturned serves were keys to her dominance in her first meeting against Witthoeft. The Ukrainian saw her path get difficult as she’d await the winner between Camila Giorgi and French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko on Monday.
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