Elina Svitolina found a way to hold off a late surge in a straight sets victory at the China Open Thursday. The third seed captured her 51st match this year by holding off Elena Vesnina to win 6-2, 7-5 on Lotus Court at the National Tennis Centre in Beijing. The 23-year-old had a first serve in the 80s and made 26 winners to move her into the quarterfinals.
Both met twice last year where the Ukrainian evened the series with a victory at New Haven followed by a victory at the WTA Elite Trophy. The world number three had her eyes set on more with plenty of rest since the US Open to be the strongest competitor in the tournament. She had yet to drop a set in the Chinese capital and didn’t plan to do so against the world number 20. Vesnina has spent less time on court with a quick finish of Magda Linette followed by her strong win over Ying-Ying Duan Monday. Having not won a title since March, the 31-year-old had her eyes on finishing the season with the biggest tournament that she wanted to be qualified to compete in.
After watching Svitolina win the opening game and apply pressure in the second, Vesnina put up a fight to span five breaks on her serve. It was at that point that the Russian managed to secure the AD point and turn the tables thereafter. She attacked Svitolina’s service in the third to earn the first break of the set, followed by a lengthy draw in the next. They completed the fourth game after six breaks in which Svitolina won to level the score after 30 minutes of action.
The next game went a lot faster as Svitolina held her end of the game, regaining the lead and not looking back. Errors were compiling fast for Vesnina who found herself in a larger hole than she wanted to be serving to stay in it. It was not meant to be as Svitolina rallied to three set points against her opponent’s serve to complete 42 minutes with a winning return.
It was the fifth consecutive set for the Ukrainian giving the notion of her complete focus. She lost only one point on the first serve that helped produce 11 winners while keeping the unforced errors low. Vesnina’s second serve and 20 unforced errors allowed the Ukrainian so much comfort going forward in the match.
The 23-year-old won her eighth straight point with a serve to love to start the second. It was put to rest by Vesnina who pulled of strong service hold of her own. The fight to stay that way was hard for 31-year-old who went to deuce with Svitolina to hang on after a couple of breaks. When Svitolina regained possession, she found it manageable to handle the game and get a second hold to love.
They got into a three all tie where every point became critical to capture the game. In the seventh, the two nearly got into a stalemate that seemed to have no end. After eight breaks and 13 minutes, Vesnina broke the Ukrainian to gain a footing which would lead to further fighting. Game eight went to several breaks spanning nine minutes prior to Vesnina’s second game winner. With then 5-3 stance, she took a chance at ending the set to force a decider the world number three had other plans to keep the chance for the match alive.
Svitolina did precisely that despite the adversity that the Russian built up for herself. The third seed competed hard with blasting returns that gave her the tying moment to force the set deep. Svitolina made a big move by holding in the 11th before taking a chat with Andrew Bettles to remained focused. She played every point expertly as Vesnina made the key errors that handed Svitolina the big win to end 1 hour and 49 minutes.
Vesnina’s downfall was her errors on both sides of the game which nearly hit 50 through the 20 games played on court. The loss took her out of the running to make it into Singapore ending her season short. Svitolina would hope to keep the momentum together sitting halfway from a sixth title awaiting Caroline Garcia in the quarters.
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