Elina Svitolina played out a dramatic ending to her second-round match at the Western & Southern Open Wednesday night. On a point that ended badly for Lesya Tsurenko with no challenges left, the match went to the hands of the world number five winning 6-1, 6-4 on Stadium Three at the Linder Family Tennis Center. Despite two rain delays and a comeback from her Ukrainian friend, the fifth seed found a way to hold in straight sets.
The recent Rogers Cup champion comes into southern Ohio with a lot of fire for her fellow countrywoman. The 22-year-old now with five WTA titles this season and nine overall has not only the lead on the road to Singapore, but a chance to be world number one is in play with less than two weeks to go till the U.S. Open. She hasn’t faced Tsurenko since their ITF days in 2012 making it a very interesting moment between the two Ukrainians.
In a strange start, Svitolina had two double faults on her opening serve that helped Tsurenko coast to an easy break. She had an issue with her eyes which caused her to give up points to the world number five. Despite the problem, she played on but couldn’t hold Svitolina off. She picked up a second consecutive game with the hold of serve. During the break, Tsurenko had a talk with the trainer speaking about a burning sensation in her left eye. After some eye drops, the 28-year-old returned to play serving for a chance to level the score.
She got to deuce with Svitolina playing two breaks but the unforced errors cost her a break of serve. The momentum was with the fifth seed putting together a double service hold to take a 4-1 lead of compatriot. Tsurenko’s game was taking a turn for the worse as she created double faults that handed Svitolina points. The senior Ukrainian made every chance to fight back for control but a sixth double fault handed another victory to her youthful opponent.
The world number five served for the set reaching two set points where an eight-shot rally saw her running side to side before it came to an end with a sharp return volley that Tsurenko didn’t get over the net. It ended in a 31 rush to victory for Svitolina who didn’t have the best stats on the serve but regulated her mistakes to come out ahead.
They both opened with the hold of serves but as soon as the third came into play; a stalemate ensued between the two Ukrainian stars. Tsurenko fought back against the heavy returns of Svitolina to force deuce. What was thought to be a quick answer turned into a standoff that lasted seven breaks. When it was said and done, Svitolina came out as the winner with a winner down the line to end the longest of the match. It took plenty of fatigue from the players but Svitolina remained calm and collected in her quest to finish her night on court. As she took a 4-2 lead, the match was delayed due to rain that suddenly fell on court.
At the end of the short delay, play resumed with Tsurenko holding serve in the game to break from the 30 all score and sit a game down on the world number five. The eighth got underway with Svitolina on the ball but as she was going for game point, the rain began to fall with thunder in sight sending everyone out of the stadium. When play resumed after 40 minutes Svitolina held the point and earned the first chance to take the match. Tsurenko escaped defeat for a game with good responses and ground strokes on the returns to Svitolina. She wasn’t out of trouble as the world number five served for it all in the tenth. New balls were in play for the young Ukrainian who thought she had it locked but her opponent had a lot of fight left to stay alive. Tsurenko forced deuce playing long ball at times with Svitolina who searched for match point at every chance.
It came down to a long rally and finished with Tsurenko trying to challenge a call on the baseline but she didn’t have any challenges left. Video evidence showed it fell out ending the 1 hour and 41-minute bout. With another victory in the right direction, Svitolina would have little time to prepare for her third round match Thursday against Julia Goerges.
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