Elina Svitolina earns second round win at Abu Dhabi Women's Tennis Open

Elina Svitolina preps to smash the serve during her second round match against Vera Zvonareva at the Abu Dhabi Women's Tennis Open Saturday. 

Elina Svitolina had her work cut out for her the Abu Dhabi Women’s Tennis Open Saturday. The second seed had a surprising finish to her straight-sets result against Vera Zvonareva, winning 6-4, 6-1 on centre court at the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre. 

 

A first time meeting for the two gives the second seed a chance to shake more rust off her game since returning to action Wednesday. The world number five had more than two dozen unforced errors but showed her skills to take down Jessica Pegula in straight sets. The 36-year-old Russian had a fine outcome of her opening match Thursdays in a two-set match win. Facing her first top-five opponent, Zvonareva had to come out early and quick if she vied to dictate against Svitolina. Though the task would be heavy, the 36-year-old planned to give it her all in her first opportunity of the season. 

She had a bit of trouble getting the service to work leading Svitolina to capture the early break. She thought that she would easily consolidate but instead committed a double fault that resulted in the break back for the Russian. Things got back to normal for the two as they returned to service holds that lasted six games. 

Svitolina had a better outcome at times that helped her score the break needed in the ninth that set her up for an early lead in the set. A serve to love from the second seed brought the first to a close in 40 minutes. Despite committing two double faults and a serve at 54 percent, the Ukrainian won more from the first and second serves that got her through in the end. 

The second opened with Zvonareva notching a shutout of the second seed, making it seem like she had something good to build upon. That was not the case against Svitolina, who answered back with a second serve to love and added a break for the 2-1 score. She found her footing that led to two more breaks and service holds that resulted in a 5-1 stand over Zvonareva. 

With one last chance to turn things around on serve, the Russian continued having problems with both sides of her service game, placing Svitolina with two set points. The second seed ended her day on court with a victory that took 26 minutes, moving her into the round of 16 in 1 hour and 11 minutes. 

With a dominant finish, the world number five left plenty in the tank for her next match which pit her against Ekaterina Alexandrova.