Elina Svitolina’s title defense came to a sudden halt at the
BNL Internazionali D’Italia late Tuesday night. Victoria Azarenka was a
relentless force that she couldn’t stop and with a long rain delay that did not
help her gain back control, the fifth seed was sent packing 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 on Centrale
Court at Foro Italico.
The two got together for the third time and the first on
clay with the two time defending champion challenged right off the racket. The
Belorussian did well to show her strengths against Shuai Zhang on Monday to
prepare herself for to add to the two wins she has against the Ukrainian. The
downside for Svitolina is the minute amount of competition on the clay courts
this season. With that being a major issue and whether her knee is at 100
percent leaves the unknown thought of whether she can make it through the first
set. The Belorussian has shown no signs of such physical injuries giving her a
heavy advantage before the first ball toss.
Azarenka chose to test the serve of Svitolina who did well
by allowing the Belorussian just one point before securing the game. Azarenka
followed suit with a good fight that let her edge the Ukrainian for the service
hold. Svitolina went along with the pace she set and quickly reeled in the
first break as the unforced errors were racking up for her opponent. To avoid a
wide gap, Azarenka battled hard to hold Svitolina off for the break in the
fifth putting her a game down.
She served herself into a hole giving the Ukrainian three
break points in the sixth but saved them with errors from across the court. Svitolina
erred just enough to let her off the hook and level the score at three apiece. A light rain began to fall during the seventh with the 24-year-old struggling with the
first serve notching her second double fault. Azarenka got in position for the
break win but a line drive return fell wide to force deuce.
Each got a chance with the AD point but with the Belorussian
erring on her chance to gain leverage, she handed Svitolina one more to put it
away and take point. Andrew Bettles came out to have a few words with the fifth
seed telling her to be strong with the second serve and go after the
opportunities that Azarenka brought on the return. None came during the
Belorussian’s service game as she improved with terrific groundstrokes and key
backhanders that caused the fifth seed trouble.
Despite committing her fourth double fault, she managed to
lock down a 5-4 hold with Azarenka serving to stay in the set. Svitolina sensed
her moment to take the break and achieved the goal with a forceful return game
that ended things in 47 minutes. The near two dozen unforced errors from
Azarenka was the main reason for Svitolina to gain the lead in the match.
Rain fell down heavily at the start of the second set which didn’t
give Svitolina much pleasure as she lost the opening game to Azarenka with a
fifth double fault. Before play resumed, officials suspended play as the rain
fell harder sending everyone off the court. After a 15-minute delay play
resumed with Azarenka serving only to be blanked by Svitolina who came out warmed
up for the break back.
Three breaks of serve were in the books before they took
another rain delay that lasted five minutes. When they resumed, Azarenka
managed to hold the fourth and gain a two-game buffer. The delays were becoming
a problem for the Ukrainian as she struggled to focus playing in the rain to hand
Azarenka a triple break to lead 4-1. Rain started to fall down even harder
which ultimately caused the match to be suspended for a second time with the
covers going over the court.
The play was delayed for more than 90 minutes with some moments where
it didn’t look as if the match was going to continue. The time off court helped
the Ukrainian who came out fresh and get herself mentally in check sitting
three games down. The serve began in the hands of the Belorussian who drew more
unforced errors from Svitolina who was trying to be aggressive.
Instead of vying for a break, the fifth seed found herself
facing a decider with the nerves returning on serve. The Ukrainian was attacked
on the second serve racing for the quick returns in the exposed court. A long
return handed the Belorussian the set and a shot at keeping the pressure on
Svitolina.
The Ukrainian wouldn’t let that happen at the start of the
third and came out fighting for every point against Azarenka. With plenty of
force, she edged the Belorussian on serve and secured the break to be ahead.
The 29-year-old went after the second serve of Svitolina’s only to see her
counterattack and hold in the second. Looking to maintain authority on court,
the 24-year-old scored the double break that had her up 3-0 with the goal on
the horizon.
Even after Azarenka found a way to hold serve against the
Ukrainian, the fifth seed was on fire blasting away the ball so well to produce
another victory and regain her three-game margin. When it looked as if the
former world number one was almost out, she scored a key break that cut
Svitolina’s lead in half. The fifth seed answered back by painting the lines
with precision to take a penultimate 5-2 stance.
Serving for the match, Svitolina got behind with Azarenka
getting the jump on her in the eighth. The 24-year-old even things out with
more shots near the lines to reach match point. She blew a smash return to
bring the Belorussian to deuce and saw it get away from her with Azarenka
scoring the AD point on a line drive.
With the big point, she took care of her serve and shutout
Svitolina in the ninth to continue fighting. The 24-year-old needed a strong
first serve but got into trouble running down balls during the rally. It wasn’t
until the final point where she got the last laugh with a return winner. They
got even at 30-all with the next point being huge for both. Azarenka got it
with great court position to smash it and reach another break point. The
Ukrainian denied her with an ace but erred with a long crosscourt.
Azarenka showed no mercy when she put the ball where she
wanted resulting in a victory after two breaks setting up more tennis. On serve
in the 11th, Azarenka conducted an outstanding position inside the
court only to err on game point to force deuce. After three breaks, the game
went to the Belorussian with a chance at making it her match. Svitolina was on
the edge of defeat and despite saving two match points, the victory went to
Azarenka who had enough energy left in the tank to conclude a thriller that
took 2 hours and 16 minutes to finish.
After a total of 175 points played, both Svitolina and
Azarenka had extreme numbers in the unforced errors to winners ratio. In the
end, Azarenka’s qualities managed to get her out of trouble and into the third
round where she’ll await the winner between Garbine Muguruza and Danielle
Collins on Thursday.
