Heather Watson delivers late knockout to Elina Svitolina at Miami Open.

Heather Watson had her eyes on the ball during her second-round match with Elina Svitolina at the Miami Open. 

Heather Watson scored a huge win against a struggling adversary at the Miami Open Thursday. The Brit had challenged from Elina Svitolina, who continued to battle more than just the competition at Hard Rock Stadium in a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) result on Court 7. 

The two encountered each other for the fifth time and the first since 2017. It was there that Svitolina gained her second win over the Brit in Birmingham to level her record with her opponent on the grass. After successfully winning her first main draw match in six years, Watson hoped to become the second British player to dispatch the Ukrainian early. Svitolina didn’t have a great time in Indian Wells when she lost out to Harriet Dart in three sets. With the obvious problems with the Ukrainian's game and her emotional situation, Watson wanted to better her own performance. 

Svitolina got off on the right foot, scoring a break after forcing deuce with Watson. She consolidated with a hold in the second until a shift of momentum benefitted the Brit. Watson blanked the 15^th seed in the third and broke her but good to level the score concentrating on her opponent’s vulnerabilities with the forehand. She gained her third game victory to take the lead, adding another for a 4-2 stand. 

The 27-year-old turned things around, gaining her first breakpoint since the first game in the sixth. A second one put her a game down and a hold in the eighth leveled the score. Svitolina regained the lead in the ninth with the double break, painting the lines well to go into her service with plenty of control. The Ukrainian kept light and focused, taking Watson down in the tenth with a long return from the Brit ending the first in 47 minutes. 

The second went along the way of Watson, who improved on the serve to stamp out another service to love. She broke Svitolina to love in the second but suffered a setback in her return game. The Ukrainian got into the action on the free points before breaking back in the third to get in the set. Watson was on a mission to let that be a small response from the 15^th seed and battled against her opponent’s service to fight for a break. She got Svitolina into a lob rally near the net and remained consistent and light until the 27-year-old erred to restore Watson’s advantage. 

Watson navigated well on serve to keep Svitolina back with her return problems and make it 4-1. As she inched closer to forcing a deciding set, Svitolina found a way to dig in on serve in the sixth and cap a victory to stay in contention with Watson. The Brit answered with a blast of forehand shots that put her up 40-0 in the seventh, watching a long return from the Ukrainian seal up her third shutout. 

The 15^th seed refused to go down on her own serve and extended the set with a good hold of serve in the eighth. Watson came into her serve and blasted Svitolina into another shutout that put the second set to bed in 36 minutes. Watson picked up where she left off and broke Svitolina to open the third set. She suffered a break back in the second before they each held serve to make it two-all. Svitolina knew that something more had to come from her game and in the fifth, put a second straight service hold to her name. 

It remained level through the next three service games with Svitolina and Watson holding well from their ends of the court. As they reached the business end of the match, Svitolina was losing control of her forehand serves, handing Watson brief leverage. Another forehand error brought up three breakpoints for the Brit, who watched Svitolina save one on a return-lined winner.

The 15^th seed saved a second with a crosscourt winner but a lob attempt landed wide to give Watson a huge 5-4 lead. Serving for her spot in the third round, Watson flopped with bad forehand shots. Down 15-40, the Brit fought back a point but sent one into the net to level the score at five-all. With the door open for the Ukrainian, the 15^th seed served up a good hold in the 11^th to lead once again. It was Watson serving to stay in the tournament and dug in for a battle with Svitolina. The Ukrainian forced the Brit to get to deuce, saving a match point. She won the next two points to force them to a tiebreak that would determine the winner. 

Watson stay ahead of Svitolina through the battle that was close, but in the end, gave the Brit a well-deserved victory that took 2 hours and 38 minutes.  

Shelby Rogers ends grip from Jelena Ostapenko at BNP Paribas Open

Shelby Rogers lets out a yell during her second-round match with Jelena Ostapenko at the BNP Paribas Open. 

Four tries was a charm for Shelby Rogers at the BNP Paribas Open Saturday evening. The American, who went down to Jelena Ostapenko five months ago in Southern California got her revenge in a 7-5, 7-6(7) upset of the tenth seed at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.  

The two met for the fourth time and the second straight at Indian Wells. Ostapenko got into a heavy battle with the American, who gave it everything she had through three sets. Despite losing a third match to the Latvian, she made it apparent that her skills would be good enough for a win against the former French Open champ. The 24-year-old went on a hot streak last month, winning Dubai and going deep into Doha. Despite getting cut short on back-to-back titles in the middle east, coming into the California desert for another battle with Rogers was good enough. 

Ostapenko dealt with adversity from the 29-year-old but managed her service game. Rogers almost had a serve to love in hand but two points got away before sealing the serve. They remained on serve through the next pair of games with the competition increasing. After a seven-point fight in the third, the tenth seed took a 3-2 lead and went on to break Rogers with a late surge in the sixth. Rogers broke back in the seventh before consolidating it to level the score at four-all. 

The momentum had changed for the American, whose game came to a high point that broke Ostapenko for the double. With the chance to serve for the set, the American was denied the chance to get it done by Ostapenko, who worked the forehand that captured the breakpoint. Rogers broke back again that gave her back the lead. The 12^th game was where a critical error from Ostapenko occurred when she watched a good point land in front of her with no response. It handed Rogers set point which she accomplished on a winner that quieted the Latvian in 49 minutes. 

In the second set, Rogers took charge and won the next two games with a break in hand from the opening game. Ostapenko found a way to prevent the American from getting another double break in the third. She avoided a shutout in the fourth from Rogers, who let the competition surge to deuce and break back to even the score at two-all. Ostapenko gained the lead on a critical hold in the fifth but so did Rogers to keep them even at three. 

They put the service games aside and fought each other for breaks in the next two games. Ostapenko put no thought of losing so many service games to the American and continued to play her game that did clinch her the ninth. With a shot to bring up the third set, Rogers killed offset point to briefly play deuce and clinch the AD point. The Latvian was determined to add pressure to the court and jumped out to a 40-0 lead in the 11^th. She gave Rogers a point but soon put it away on a bad return into the net. 

Neither one worried about what problems they had in previous games, and for Rogers, she handled the pressure to force a tiebreak. Rogers scored the first minibreak on a wide slice by Ostapenko, who had a better record in tiebreaks this season. Another sliced return made it 2-0 for Rogers, who aced a shot down the T for a third straight point. Ostapenko got into the action with a forced error by her opponent and a bouncer off the net for two points. 

Rogers doubled her lead on the sixth point and gained another one for a 5-2 lead. The Latvian returned to serve with a second serve ace and an unforced error cutting it down to one. A double fault from Rogers made it five-all and another error set up Ostapenko for a second set point. Rogers was determined to turn it around and calmly got to the ball with a winner down the line. At six-all, Rogers went up 7-6 with a tremendous shot down the tramlines to reach match point. 

Ostapenko answered with a big forehand to knock it off, but the American got another at 8-7 where she put the tenth seed out on her feet. A crosscourt return away from the Latvian sealed the deal for Rogers in 1 hour and 56 minutes. 

 

Harriet Dart shows Elina Svitolina the exit in three set upset at Indian Wells.

Harriet Dart hits the forehand during her match with Elina Svitolina at the BNP Paribas Open. 

Elina Svitolina put a lot of heart into her opening match but came out on the wrong side of the court at the BNP Paribas Open Friday night. The Ukrainian, who fought for more than herself was pitted against a surging Harriet Dart, who threw all her efforts into three sets and won 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Stadium Four at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. It was Svitolina’s first upset to a top 100 player and for Dart, her first win against a top 20 player while debuting in a WTA 1000 event. 

The two met for the first time with Svitolina making her ninth appearance in tennis paradise. The Ukrainian had a lot of personal battles with her home country under attack and fighting to focus on the court. In her run at Monterrey, the defending champion battled in each of her matches but came up short in the third one to drop out. With her enjoyment of Indian Wells, the 12^th seed looked to get dug in and score another top 100 win to start the tournament. 

She opened the match with a break of the Brit, who made her Indian Wells debut. The 27-year-old fell behind on serve and went to deuce where after six breaks, Dart’s efforts paid off to break back. Svitolina added a third straight break to the score but wanted to get the offense in check and control the pace. It was an easy win on serve in the fourth but battling Dart on serve remained a huge task. A chance to break was in place but the Brit saved it to force deuce. She failed to capture an AD point, giving Svitolina the win on a backhanded error into the net. 

Dart pulled off a break back due to her push that was almost a shutout against Svitolina. The Ukrainian brushed it off and captured a double break that put her up 5-2, with the chance to serve out the set. Though she faced her second task against the young British player, Svitolina battled when Dart forced deuce and went three breaks. Despite saving two set points, the Ukrainian produced a third and closed the first to her name after 43 minutes. 

Dart’s three double faults stuck out like a sore thumb, but her fight in games against the world number 18 was impressive enough to fight on. She improved the stats of her service games in the first and came out holding serve in the first. Svitolina followed suit and then went for a break in the third. Dart managed to break back in the fourth, keeping the score even. She backed it up to regain the lead in the fifth and pulled off a double on Svitolina, working through nine points in the game. 

Though she suffered another break to the 27-year-old in the seventh, she achieved the triple break to serve for the set. Finding some ease behind her first serve, the British star capped the second set with two set points to force the Ukrainian into a long match that would take the lights of the court. 

Dart jumped out to a 3-0 run, investing a lot of time in the second and third. With the double break in hand against the 12^th seed, Dart went for another but faced heavy opposition. The two played 13 points and four breaks of deuce in the fourth that handed Svitolina a much-needed win to get her back into it. The 27-year-old dug in on serve, yet still fought tooth and nail with the 25-year-old. Two breaks were in the books before Svitolina controlled the AD point twice and clinched her second win. 

Dart was done giving the Ukrainian room to maneuver and responded in the sixth to take a 4-2 lead. Svitolina managed to get the job done by denying Dart the coveted game point that would have put her closer to the match. Instead, the lead for the Brit was down to one with her serving the eighth. 

She scored a serve to love that put the pressure on Svitolina to stay alive in the match. Errors set up a tradeoff of the first four points until a long return behind the baseline brought up the game point. Her next shot landed into the tram lines that forced deuce for Dart. She handled some tricks from the Ukrainian to lob over a match point response. The 25-year-old qualifier sealed the upset on a final return into the net from Svitolina to end a 2 hour and 17-minute thriller. 

Alison Riske bests Garbine Muguruza in three sets

Alison Riske clenches her fist during a point of her match with Garbine Muguruza at the BNP Paribas Open. 

Garbine Muguruza came out dominating the competition and all of the sudden out of the BNP Paribas Open Friday night. Her demise was once again at the hands of Alison Riske, who used her tactics to take the Spaniard by storm in the final two sets winning 0-6, 6-3, 6-1 on Stadium One at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.  

The two have gone at it four times with the series tied between them. Though their last meeting dated three years back. Riske hoped to keep her grip on the Spaniard, having won the last two straight against her. The American opened the gap each set they played in those two, leading to huge victories. Riske already has a win in the California desert, while Muguruza seeks her first in over two weeks. She was knocked out at this stage last year and would fight Riske through every point to avoid it again. 

 The Spaniard opened the scoring with a strong hold in the first and watched her opponent struggle with the service. Riske battled back to force deuce but committed a double fault that handed the eighth seed a 2-0 lead with the break. Muguruza jumped to 40-0 due to return errors from Riske, but the 31-year-old rallied back to deuce. It was a short-lived moment for Riske, who continued to struggle with the second serve and give Muguruza another service. 

She backed it up with a dominant break in the fourth giving her a comfortable lead and stand over Riske. The next two games went the way of the eighth seed, who allowed Riske three combined points before closing the first set in 25 minutes. Muguruza won 82 percent of her points from the first serve and only scored three winners against her opponent. Riske struggled with the offense and suffered a big hit that she knew she needed to fix quick. 

The eighth seed didn’t give her much time to do so, as she opened the scoring with another big win. Avoiding a breakpoint chance for the American, Muguruza forced deuce and held the first AD point played. She broke the 31-year-old on the fifth point and backed it up with a fast service in the third to win her ninth in a row. 

When it looked like all hope was lost, Riske somehow found a way to etch a victory during her service. A break followed that up for the American, who managed to switch the momentum to her benefit. Riske achieved her third straight over the Spaniard, who was no longer in control of her game. The American made another large statement, gaining three break points on Muguruza, and held enough of them to lead the second set. 

Sitting on a four-game losing streak, Muguruza tried to counter Riske’s service but despite gaining two points, the American held her ground to lead 5-3. With one last chance to keep the set alive, Muguruza fell behind on the score and watched Riske coast to victory to push them to the distance after 38 minutes. Both increased the winners but it was Riske, who recorded seven to the Spaniard’s five. The difference came on unforced errors, which was a pivotal game changer when Muguruza notched a dozen. 

With the third set in action, Riske picked up right where she left off scoring a serve to love. She then broke the eighth seed to love in the second and put the balls back in her hands for the third game. Muguruza denied her that chance to gain and broke the American to get on the board. A fight ensued in the fourth where the Spaniard fought Riske for the AD point on deuce through four breaks. Riske saved Muguruza from clinching the game point on two occasions before scoring the break back on her second attempt. It was the straw that broke Muguruza’s offense as Riske went back to serve, scoring a shutout in the fifth. The American made it 5-1, allowing the Spaniard a single point before serving for the upset. Riske was in full control and made good of her time against the former world number one, who suffered another shutout to end her tournament spectacularly. 

It was 93 minutes of pure success for Riske, who had a lot to be proud of when it came to handling the issues of being dominated in the opening set to scoring her third match win over the eighth seed.  

Elina Svitolina rolls to victory in three sets at GNP Seguros

Elina Svitolina waves to the crowd after her round of 16 match at the Abierto GNP Seguros in Monterrey Mexico. 

Elina Svitolina had a challenging night on the court but came through with her best at the Abierto GNP Seguros Thursday night. Winning the last six games in a row, the Ukrainian took down Viktoriya Tomova in three sets 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-2 on center court at the Sonora Club in Monterrey, Mexico.

Wednesday’s victory was an emotional one for Svitolina, who defeated Anastasia Potapova of Russia in straight sets. While neither had beef with one another, the reality that Ukraine was being attacked was an upsetting event for the top seed to handle. She found a way to focus and won her opening match superbly to face Tomova for the second time. They last met at the Billy Jean King Cup where the Ukrainian won after a tiebreak. The Bulgarian fought her way through qualifications, sitting on a three-match winning streak in the hopes she could show the number one seed difficulty. 

She chose to face the service of Svitolina, who dominated with a shutout in the first. She blanked Tomova for the break to love for a 2-0 lead. The Bulgarian worked out the kinks on the return side of the game, forcing deuce on the Ukrainian before finding her victory in an AD point break. Svitolina broke back but had to press Tomova away from the game point in the fourth. The Bulgarian regained her experience against Svitolina to draw errors from the number one seed and break back once more.

She managed to level the score, which didn’t sit well on the competitive side of Svitolina. The top seed refused to let another one of her service games be broke and in the seventh, held with all her might to get in charge. Svitolina added a break for good measure when she forced deuce on Tomova’s serve. After two breaks, she pushed her back behind the baseline to score the win and sit 5-3 to serve for the set. 

The Bulgarian pressed the issue in the ninth where she dug in to fight every point with the Ukrainian. A big point scored her the break to extend her life in the set, hoping that she had what it took to press Svitolina into another potential tiebreak. She denied the Ukrainian the opportunity to take the set on her serve, forcing her to find another way. Tomova was all over the ball in the 11^th, answering with terrific shots to hold off Svitolina. The top seed answered with a rush to three set points in the 12^th, only to see Tomova save one of them. 

She saved two more to force deuce but a mistake gave Svitolina the AD point. The number one seed, clinched the victory to send the two into their second career tiebreak. Svitolina won the first four points before Tomova got on the board with a pair. A big winner gave the Ukrainian a mini-break for 5-2 before a point was achieved by the Bulgarian. Svitolina scored another mini-break for a set point which was sealed on a cross-court slice ending one hour and six minutes. 

Both combined for 55 unforced errors with Tomova having a better outcome of her first serve percentage. Despite having three double faults, the Bulgarian gave Svitolina a fight to be proud of but knew more had to be done to really be in the competition. They played the first four games, holding serve on one another, with Tomova leading the Ukrainian. After holding in the fifth, the Bulgarian got Svitolina right where she wanted her, setting in frustrations across the court. It led to a key break in the sixth that put her two games in front. 

Backing up gave her first cracks at taking the second set and forcing the decider, with Svitolina on the ropes. Despite a shutout in the eighth, Tomova came into the ninth, edging the Ukrainian to win the second in 37 minutes to force them to the distance. Unforced errors were a major problem for the top seed, who committed 19 while Tomova improved her offense. 

She rolled it into the third taking the first two games swiftly. Svitolina then answered with a push that produced not only a momentum change but full control of how every point was played by the Ukrainian. She won the next four straight, inching herself closer to taking the match. Tomova tried to stop her in the seventh when she forced deuce, but the Ukrainian was on a path to finish the night off her way. She forced an error from the Bulgarian to sit a game down with Tomova serving to stay alive. 

The Bulgarian gave it all she had in the eighth, fighting Svitolina to deuce where she gave herself chances for the AD point. The top seed shut her opponent’s efforts down and produced one for match point. It was an 11 shot rally that saw her gain a hard-earned victory when Tomova returned a shot wide ending 2 hours and 22 minutes. 

“It was an extremely tough match today,” said Svitolina “I think Viktoriya played a good match and I had to really fight back in the third set to bring back my best game and try to come back into the match and in the end managed to win six games in a row.”

 

Elina Svitolina wins emotional opening at Abierto GNP Seguros

Elina Svitolina won an important match that was very close to her heart at the Abierto GNP Seguros Tuesday night. The Ukrainian was ready despite her personal sadness and took down Anastasia Potapova in straight sets 6-2, 6-1 on center court at the Sierra Madre Tennis Club. 

This was their first meeting and a difficult one for the Ukrainian and the Russian. Both were capable of handling business on the court, but with both countries in a dangerous conflict, the heart was heavier on the side of the world number 15. Svitolina has been under major stress with members of her family stuck in Ukraine while it remains under attack by Russian forces. Despite her attempts to withdraw from Monterrey if she was matched with Russian or Belorussian athletes, she was convinced to play the game she loves while trying to defend her title. 

The 20-year-old took down Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko and was again having a Ukrainian to face once more. She and Svitolina would feel the emotional pressure and a second time for Potapova against one of Ukraine’s popular players. 

Svitolina opened the set with a break of Potapova and backed it up with a hold in the second. The top seed ran off with full control of her offense, scoring a 4-0 run after a tough fight in the third and a shutout of Potapova in the fourth. The 20-year-old managed to get on the board, forcing errors on Svitolina to hold serve and end the slide. She tried to get a break in play when she forced deuce and battled for the AD point. Two chances came and went for the 20-year-old before Svitolina made it 5-1. 

The Ukrainian couldn’t get dug in against Potapova’s service, watching her opponent run off with a second win. Potapova made it another challenging time for Svitolina, who battled back a breakpoint chance for the 20-year-old and forced deuce. After three set point attempts, Svitolina locked it down against her opponent to finish the set in 36 minutes. Svitolina bested Potapova on first and second serve percentages despite having two double faults. 

The second set began with Potapova clinching her first service game and again went after Svitolina on her serve. The top seed held off Potapova for the third time after a break. The 27-year-old took it to the 20-year-old throwing it right back to force deuce and create breakpoints to give her the lead. The number one seed continued her momentum as she carried a 4-1 lead over Potapova, who showed signs of frustration after a couple of slams to her racket. 

Svitolina fired big forehands in the sixth that set her up with a shot to take the match from Potapova. Gaining the key match point in the seventh, Svitolina scored it on a line drive return winner to complete a heartfelt victory in one hour and three minutes. “I’m in a very sad mood but you know I’m happy that I’m here playing tennis here.” “For me, it was very important to be ready for anything that comes my way and to be moving my legs all the time and generally stay focused.”

While times are tough back in her home country, the Ukrainian would continue her title defense and give it to the competition.