Elina Svitolina takes out Taylah Preston in straight sets

Elina Svitolina waves to the crowd after completing her first-round match at the Australian Open. 

Elina Svitolina turned up the heat to advance to the second round of the Australian Open on Monday. The 19th-seeded Ukrainian fixed the issues during the straight-sets match against Taylah Preston to win 6-2, 6-2 on 1573 Arena at Melbourne Park.

The Australian made her debut at Melbourne Park after earning a wild card to get in. The 18-year-old wasn’t fortunate to draw against the Ukrainian, who put in a lot of time in Auckland, making the final there against Coco Gauff. Despite going down against the American, she was warmed up to accept the challenge against the hometown girl and face any tests that Preston brought to the court. The Australian teen invested time in the ITF to prepare for her first main draw appearance, winning seven of the last ten.

The 19th seed faced a break of serve from Preston but handed one right back to level the score. Svitolina tried to get a service game secured, but the teen fought back to force deuce and scored the double break. The Ukrainian got a jump on the 18-year-old in the fourth game, allowing her a point from her end. Svitolina smartened up on serve in the fifth, executing the winners, and watched Preston err into the net to notch the match’s first service hold.

Svitolina backed up the hold and dominated the teen, shutting her out on service. The 29-year-old made it 5-2 on the serve, maximizing pressure on Preston to get the set closed. The Ukrainian reached set point at 40-30 but erred a return into the net. After three breaks, it was Preston who cracked under the stress, double-faulting the set to Svitolina after 30 minutes. Neither player did well on the first serve, but 18 unforced errors from Preston weighed down her problems.

The Ukrainian got the serve locked down in the second set, holding the Aussie to a point. She got into the groove of holding serve, but Svitolina dug in to hold and catch the break of serve in the fourth. The 19th seed continued to build a positive outlook for her side of the court, backing up the break for a 4-1 commanding lead. Preston built up a great set of shots that silenced the 29-year-old in the sixth to sit two games down.

Svitolina faced a tough service, with the two trading points until a late error from Preston behind the baseline gave the 19th seed a 5-2 stand. Preston was in the hot seat to stay in the match, but despite her early performance, she opened the door for Svitolina to force a deuce. After three breaks, the Ukrainian achieved a match point to get the job done in under an hour.