Elina Svitolina wins an easy straight sets against Daria Kasatkina at the Mubadala Citi Open

Elina Svitolina celebrates her second round win over Daria Kasatkina at the Mubadala Citi Open in Washington DC. 

Elina Svitolina notched another one at the Mubadala Citi Open Wednesday. The 28-year-old wildcard notched her eighth victory against Daria Kasatkina, winning in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 on Stadium Court at the FitzGerald Tennis Center. Bringing a heavy momentum of offense allowed her to dictate a strong finish to her second match in the nation’s capital.

The Ukrainian got the job done for a second time against Victoria Azarenka Monday, dispatching the birthday girl in straight sets. It was her second consecutive match win against the former world number one and one to begin her debut. Kasatkina also made good of her first tournament run in Washington, defeating Elise Mertens in straight sets.

She and Svitolina met seven times, with the former world number three winning every one of them. The wildcard had a match win with the 26-year-old at Roland Garros on her way to a quarterfinal there. With the new mom on a hot streak, she’ll try to keep the pressure on her opponent and clinch a quarterfinal spot.

Kasatkina served well to open the match, giving Svitolina a point before holding it. She went after her opponent’s service, forcing the second game to deuce, but came up short of a break. The third was the most competitive, with the players going two breaks before the 26-year-old held. Svitolina leveled the score after the fourth, then went back to attacking Kasatkina’s center to score the break.

The 28-year-old worked hard to consolidate the break on serve, going a break, before containing the sixth. A newfound streak came to the Ukrainian, scoring the double break against Kasatkina marking her third straight win. Serving for the set, the wild card fell behind on serve, giving the fifth seed break points.

A forehand winner saved one then a forced error brought the margin to one. A crosscourt return for Kasatkina went wide, forcing deuce for the 28-year-old. Svitolina blew her chance for a set point, going five combined breaks until her second attempt gave her the first set after 46 minutes. Both racked up 32 errors, with Kasatkina tallying 18 of them. Winners were aplenty between the players, but the momentum stood high for Svitolina.

She came into the second set, etching a break from her opponent, building together another lengthy winning streak. By the fourth game, she had a double break in hand, sitting halfway from victory. The Ukrainian unleashed the forehand to secure a 4-0 lead. Kasatkina tried to contain a service game in the set going two breaks to deny a second attempt by Svitolina and hold the fifth.

With one game in her pocket, Kasatkina challenged the Ukrainian on serve for the sixth. It became the longest battle of the match, going to deuce ten times. After saving four break points, Svitolina got through the challenges to lead 5-1 and play for the match. 

The fifth seed forced errors from Svitolina to stay in the set and try to hold her opponent from closing out the day. She opened the service with two straight points, giving up a pair and putting herself in place for a match point. The Ukrainian sealed the victory in 1 hour and 37 minutes, scoring a second serve that came back long from the fifth seed.

As she entered the quarterfinal, the 28-year-old awaited whether she would face Americans Jessica Pegula or Payton Stearns on Friday.