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| Elina Svitolina clenches her fist during a round of 16 match against Ekaterina Alexandrova at the Abu Dhabi Women's Tennis Open Sunday |
The two faced off last year at the French Open with Svitolina winning late in two sets. With two victories under her belt in the shortened 2021 season, the second seed eyed a path to the quarterfinals. The 26-year-old had yet to drop a set in the tournament and also improved on her offense to dictate the previous match. While there wasn’t a major on the line for her, the need for more time on the court mattered much to both players.
Alexandrova was made to serve the opening game and had trouble keeping the ball in control. It produced break point chances, bringing Svitolina to deuce. After a break, the Ukrainian’s third breakpoint capped the early lead. Svitolina’s serve faced adversity, with Alexandrova making some good returns but got in trouble with the errors. They went to deuce where a lucky break for the Russian scored her the break back.
The second seed made her opponent pay for bringing difficulty to her service with a double break in the third. Svitolina went on to consolidate her service for a 3-1 lead, notching a serve to love against the 17th seed. The Russian had a few wild hits of the ball on serve, giving the Ukrainian a third break of serve and the gap widening. Svitolina reached 5-1 with another hold of serve but gaining the break to end the first was out of the question for Alexandrova.
The 17th seed held her end well to maintain service for the first time. It didn’t help her extend the set as the world number five hit the afterburners notching her second serve to love, ending the set with a wide return ending 30 minutes of play. Alexandrova’s serve beat her down significantly, where she made 37 percent of her shots count while Svitolina averaged 61 with just four winners.
Improvements didn’t come to her in the second set as the Ukrainian was on a mission to end her evening quickly. She smashed down Alexandrova’s positive moments and scored her third serve to love of the match. Sitting two games down, the Russian held Svitolina to a single point in the third to avoid a shutout. She added a second win with Svitolina committing her first double fault. Trying not to add more problems, the second seed broke Alexandrova to love to edge out in the fifth.
The Russian tried pulling off the same feat in the sixth but her opponent climbed back to save three break points with an ace for deuce. Just when it looked as if she’d hold serve, Svitolina recorded her second double fault, handing Alexandrova the break. Confidence was growing in the Russian as she found herself close with Svitolina and suddenly leading the second seed after seven.
The Ukrainian was losing some focus with the need to change things up on her opponent. The second seed worked hard on deuce, chasing every ball that came back. After a couple of breaks, she scored the win needed to level at four-all. Svitolina scored the key break that returned the lead to her end after nine with the shot to serve for the match. Alexandrova played too good in the tenth, showing tremendous aggression that put Svitolina in danger. The second seed watched as the first breakpoint was saved and a second on her forehand crosscourt. A drop shot from Alexandrova was her moment to end the comeback and push the two further on in the set.
The Russian took the first step with a hold that gave her the 6-5 lead, eyeing her chance at forcing a deciding set. Svitolina answered with a strong serve that she wished she had earlier but would fight for it on the tiebreak. A double fault from Alexandrova gave the second seed the minibreak and a second point. A drop shot return foiled her plan to keep the Russian from scoring and soon had them tied on an error.
Svitolina gained another two points until the Russian came back with difficult returns including the drop shot that leveled them at four-all. Her net-front presence set up a smash that brought up set point. Svitolina tried to counter in the rally but it was answered with a net-front slice that ended her hopes for a quick finish. The set lasted 55 minutes with the Russian improving the first serve and notched 20 winners that caused damage to her opponent.
Brushing it off in the third, Svitolina held serve to begin the decider with Alexandrova close. She added a break to consolidate putting Svitolina in trouble early. With the momentum swung well for the 17th seed, she added further pressure on the second see to grow out a 3-1 stance for herself. Svitolina found a way to dig deep on serve and etch out a serve to love. Alexandrova opened back her two-game lead but holding off Svitolina wasn’t in the cards during the seventh where her chance for the break fell apart.
She earned redemption with a great hold that put her in place to play for the match. Svitolina responded with a serve to love in the ninth, hoping for another to pressure her opponent. Alexandrova felt the nerves while serving for the match as she erred three times to bring the score to five-all. The aggression faded away from the Russian and increased the skills of Svitolina to play for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Alexandrova had something to say about the situation and did so with a hold of serve that sent them to the brink of a tiebreak. The 17th seed notched the first point but made a mistake on the second. She overcame a short deficit winning the next three points, gaining some positivity. The score was five-all with Svitolina bringing the heat and Alexandrova unable to contain it. She clawed out match point but watched the Ukrainian fire a sixth ace to level back.
Every point was critical for the two as they remained deadlocked until an error from Alexandrova set up a second attempt from Svitolina which gave her the win on a wide return from the Russian ending a 2 hour and 25 minute nail biter.
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