Marketa Vondrousova stuns Elina Svitolina in straight sets at Rome Masters

Marketa Vondroussova had her game on fire at the BNL Internazionali D'Italia defeating fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina in straight sets

Elina Svitolina got the shock of her season at the BNL Internazionali D’Italia on Saturday night. The two-time champion looked for another win against Marketa Vondrousova but fell in straight sets 6-3, 6-0 on Stadio Pietrangeli at Foro Italico. 

The two marked their second meeting on clay and fourth match overall with Svitolina winning every one of them. Their battle in Stuttgart went three sets which left the Czech with the idea that she could pull that feat off and change the result. Her three wins to date in Rome brought her back to the last eight for the second year in a row. Despite facing heavy adversity, the 12th seed would give her best early and fight for control. 

Fighting was exactly how the match got started as Vondrousova’s served the first game. From 15-40, the Czech canceled Svitolina’s break point chances to force deuce and win on the third break. The Ukrainian held her end a little better but was hungry for an early lead in the set. The third went exactly like the first with Vondrousova climbing out of a hole to force deuce. It took another three breaks to hold serve but knew that something had to change to strengthen the serve. 

A break in the fourth helped her out, gaining an edge on the fourth seed who got to deuce but let the AD point convert for the Czech. Consolidating the hard work gave Vondrousova a 4-1 gap on Svitolina It was nearly 5-1 for Vondrousova as she had a break to love in place but let the fourth seed come back. When deuce was secured, it took Svitolina a pair of breaks to hold and get within two games. 

The 12th seed didn’t want the Ukrainian any closer and made it 5-2 with a hold in the seventh. Going for the break was something Svitolina didn’t want occurring and dug in on deuce to make sure her tough shots made it effective. The Czech served for the set reaching three set points to put the first away in 50 minutes. Aside from having four double faults, she outnumbers Svitolina on winners and fought for the points through those nine games. 

Vondrousova was making Svitolina work hard in the first that led to the break and a short winning streak. It was soon up to three as Vondrousova held to consolidate the early serve. A double break for the Czech made it 3-0 as the Ukrainian was being outdone on the court. It was quickly 5-0 as Vondrousova ran away with the triple break, forcing Svitolina into submission. She reached a match point in the sixth but a surge from the Ukrainian got her to deuce. 

An error from the fourth seed gave Vondrousova a second shot at the match but wasn’t able to execute. The third one on a lob return was the charm as the Czech got her on a lob rally, flowing one over the fourth seed’s head to finish her night in 1 hour and 20 minutes. With the huge victory, the 21-year-old would take all the good that came from her end and go against the winner between Karolina Pliskova and Elise Mertens in the semifinal.