The two met last season for the fifth time, with Svitolina needing to dig in on clay to take down the Russian veteran. While it became her fourth victory, it was another show of strength that the tennis veteran wouldn’t go down easily. As the top seed in Dubai, she came into it with only four days rest coming off a bad performance against Victoria Azarenka who had a back injury before the match began.
With the need to keep her mind and game in full focus, the 26-year-old needed a strong output in the tournament she won twice. Kuznetsova hasn’t won in any of her 13 appearances but would try to build upon her fight Monday with Qiang Wang which went three sets. Adapting to the conditions well, the 35-year-old eyed a chance to break open the main draw.
Svitolina received to open the set, fighting from a short deficit to force deuce on the Russian’s service. She produced breakpoint chances, but after two they stopped coming giving Kuznetsova the momentum to close out her serve. Svitolina didn’t let the loss affect her as it warmed her up to serve well in the second, giving Kuznetsova a single point. The top seed followed it up with a break to love of the Russian, showing her strengths early.
Svitolina backed up the two wins with a third on serve, but couldn’t capture the double break. Kuznetsova fought hard to contain service in the fifth, holding the Ukrainian to a point. Svitolina struck back with a serve to love and consolidated it with a break of Kuznetsova to set up for the set. Despite facing some adversity, the 26-year-old got out of a 30-all point in the eighth for set point and took the first in 34 minutes. The number one seed bested the Russian on the first-serve percentage and kept the unforced errors down.
She continued her success into the second, breaking Kuznetsova in the first game. The Russian broke back and held serve in the third to lead. Svitolina held her end in the fourth but knew her opponent meant business in the set. The 35-year-old had another game locked down from her end, with the Ukrainian following suit.
They played seven games on serve until the tenth when Kuznetsova bested Svitolina on serve for the tie and instead saw her game under attack. The Russian earned two minibreaks before going for the big one that sealed up the second in 34 minutes. Svitolina’s service game took a beating of her own impact, scoring just 48 percent from it while Kuznetsova finished comfortably with the momentum.
The Russian rolled it into the deciding set, holding serve for her third game in a row. She broke the top seed and held again in the third that made it five straight wins. Trying to get into the set, Svitolina got out to a lead in the fourth but was still slow during the rallies, leading Kuznetsova to deuce. A crosscourt from Kuznetsova gave her the double break and her sixth win in a row.
Svitolina was fighting to get into the set but it was an uphill battle that she made, even for her opponent. The two got in deep into the fifth, with Svitolina forcing deuce. She failed to gain a breakpoint but stopped Kuznetsova four times on the AD point before eventually getting it after the following break. With seven consecutive games won. Kuznetsova went for the bagel on Svitolina’s serve, gaining match point for the break. The top seed refused to give in and forced deuce where they played two long breaks.
After nearly eight minutes of action, the Ukrainian got out of trouble, preventing the shutout. Svitolina had a breakpoint chance in the seventh, but couldn’t clear her way to winning it as Kuznetsova fired a winner far off in a corner. She battled back for another but erred to give Kuznetsova a shot. The Russian scored an AD point on the second break drawing an error from Svitolina that brought up match point with Svitolina returning long ending her dismal performance in 1 hour and 52 minutes.
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