Elina Svitolina holds in straight sets against Anastasia Pavlyunchenkova at the Italian Open

Elina Svitolina on Campo Centale playing in her first match in six months at the BNL Internazionli D'Italia against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Rome

Elina Svitolina earned a very important win in her return to tennis at the BNL Internazionali D’Italia. The world number six completed a challenging match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who made it difficult with the winners but went down 6-3, 7-6(3) on Campo Centrale at Foro Italico. It was the first WTA win in six months for the Ukrainian who advanced into the third round. 

The two revamped their rivalry in a fourth meeting with the two-time champion trying to get her game in check since the long pause due to the pandemic. Though Svitolina played in three exhibition tournaments, it wasn’t enough to show her consistent strengths. The tournament where she won back to back championships was a good place to start, given that her recent training has occurred on the clay surface. The Russian had a lot of time on the court against Shuai Zhang, needing three sets in the opening round. With plenty of fight coming from her victory, the 29-year-old had enough to bring against the fourth seed. 

The two started off with comfortable holds through four games, but once Svitolina was on the ball she took the lead never letting go. A hold to love for the Ukrainian was followed up by a break in the sixth for a 4-2 lead. Consolidating her next service game put Pavlyuchenkova down three games. 

The Russian added a third win despite going to deuce after saving a breakpoint. Despite the effort, the number four seed contained another hold in the seventh, allowed Pavlyuchenkova a serve to love in the eighth, and closed out the set in 32 minutes with forced error on the Russian’s backhand. The 29-year-old didn’t have a lot of unforced errors and produced winners but when the first was said and done, it was the difference was Svitolina and her achievement of breaks in the set. 

Although she was a set down, the Russian came into the second, determined to hold serve against the world number six. It took big forehand shots to break the Ukrainian and capture an important start. It turned into a big move for Pavlyuchenkova, who broke apart Svitolina and added another service hold for the measure. With a large gap after 20 minutes, the fourth seed had to find the tactics to turn the tide. 

A good hold for Svitolina ended the winning streak of her opponent and what appeared to be her offense as Pavlyuchenkova racked up the errors that broke her serve. Sitting a game down, the Ukrainian thought she’d convert the hold of serve but was broken giving Pavlyuchenkova a 4-2 lead. The fourth seed struck with a break back and held firm in the eighth to level with the Russian with two games between herself and the match. 

Pavlyuchenkova tried to serve for the body but her opponent was focused on the weaknesses from her earlier success. Svitolina scored the double break as the 29-year old’s second double fault made it 5-4 for the two-time winner. On serve for the match, the 26-year-old notched two aces in the tenth, despite having Pavlyuchenkova close at hand. An error from the Russian brought up match point, but a line drive landed long to go to deuce. They played three only to see the Ukrainian blowing a second match point and a broken serve. 

With the score at five-all and Pavlyuchenkova on serve, the Russian wasted no time securing the 11th game and put immense pressure on Svitolina. She had to get to deuce on serve and with help from the 29-year-old, further chances were available. After two breaks an AD point for Svitolina worked out to send the players to a tiebreak. After Pavlyuchenkova held for the first point, minibreaks between the two emerged with Svitolina gaining a 4-3 lead. 

A wide return and an error made it 6-3 for the Ukrainian as her third match point came from a simple cross-court lob that landed for the victory in 1 hour and 44 minutes. Both players combined for 52 winners with the Russian producing more but also doubled the unforced errors. The edge on breakpoints remained with Svitolina winning three of eight and had four aces. With good work, she’ll take it into the round of 16 facing the winner between Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anett Kontaveit on Friday.