Svitolina returns to Dubai a winner at the DDF Tennis Championships

Elina Svitolina readied the backhand during her opening round at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Elina Svitolina battled through a tough match to emerge victorious at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Monday night. Anhelina Kalinina gave the 15th seed a run for her money in the latter stages of the second set, pushing her to a tiebreak before ultimately falling 6-3, 7-6(7) on center court at the Dubai Tennis Stadium.

Svitolina, a former world number three, suffered a setback last month in Australia when she injured her back in the fourth round of the Australian Open. But after battling back to fitness, the 29-year-old returned to Dubai, hoping to get back into a comfortable position. Kalinina, Svitolina's compatriot, had not won consecutive matches this season and faced a tough challenge in facing the experienced 15th seed. Kalinina began the match by taking a point off Svitolina's service game, but the 15th seed battled back and established herself near the net to score a break and take control of the match. Svitolina then held serve to love in the third before Kalinina fought back to hold her own serve in the fourth. However, Svitolina stepped up her game and nailed three straight aces in the fifth to assert her dominance. Despite Kalinina's valiant efforts, Svitolina coasted to victory in the first set, winning in 33 minutes and producing a good momentum. The number one Ukrainian had 14 winners and scored 94 percent from the first serve, while her opponent had 14 errors and a lower serve percentage overall. Kalinina remained firm on serve in the second set, but Svitolina anticipated flawlessly during points and held serve in the second game. Kalinina made a statement on serve in the third, blanking Svitolina in response. She then got a jump on Svitolina's service in the fourth, forcing the seeded star to turn the table and hold. Despite Kalinina's efforts to force a decider, Svitolina raised her level of gameplay higher than her opponent, celebrating big points in the sixth. Kalinina remained locked on holding serve, forcing the top Ukrainian to either even the score or fall behind. The 27-year-old almost shut out Svitolina in the ninth but ultimately held to threaten her opponent with a third set. Svitolina fought back from a 15-40 deficit and saved two set points off Kalinina in the tenth before holding to dive deep into the set. Although Kalinina had a chance to shut out Svitolina, she could not capitalize and took a pivotal 6-5 lead to add pressure. Svitolina handled the pressure well, fighting back to set up the tiebreak. In the tiebreak, Svitolina took an early lead, but Kalinina leveled the score and stayed with her through six points. Critical mistakes allowed Kalinina to take a 5-3 lead until two long returns made it five-all. Svitolina then brought up match point, but a return into the net kept Kalinina in the action. The two players continued to trade points until Svitolina finally won on a five-shot rally, tapping the ball in front of Kalinina to win in a hard-fought 1 hour and 40 minutes.

"It was a tough one to play," said Svitolina during her on court interview. "Its always tough to play someone from the same country and I'm just happy to finish in two sets because obviously, I dont want to play a third set." She'll see the competition hold its pace facing Tatijana Maria of Germany in the second round Tuesday.