Swiatek stamps out Svitolina in straight sets at DDF Tennis Championships

Iga Swiatek readies herself for a smash during the third round of the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships. 

Iga Swiatek marched to victory and a quarterfinal spot at the Dubai Duty-Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday. Elina Svitolina didn’t have the tools to overpower the number one seed, who took it in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 on center court at the Dubai Tennis Stadium. It was the 24th win of 25 matches played for the world number one, gaining a second win over the top Ukrainian.

The two met for the second time last year in a thrilling quarterfinal at Wimbledon. It was there on the grass courts that Svitolina took down the world number one to make it as far as the semifinals. Since her return from a back injury suffered at the Australian Open this season, the Ukrainian performed well in her first two matches in Dubai to face her younger foe. Swiatek managed to straight sets win against Sloane Stephens, but not before being broken three games in a row. The Pole converted one of ten break points in the second set before her 6-4, 6-4 win. It marked three years since Swiatek beat the Ukrainian, hoping to keep her winning ways in check.

The top seed opened the scoring, struggling to hold serve against the Ukrainian. Svitolina answered with a serve to love in the second and continued her attack to achieve a break on Swiatek. The Pole held the third game and sent a message to the 15th seed, breaking in the fourth. The 22-year-old backed up the work against the Ukrainian, making it 4-1 to her end. The Ukrainian didn’t struggle on serve, but returning against Swiatek proved challenging.

It resulted in a double break for the number one seed, who served for the set in the seventh. She played aggressively to bring up a set point on serve, watching Svitolina return it into the net ending 28 minutes of play. Swiatek had seven winners and six unforced errors, but the lack of points won by the 15th seed made the scoring look the way it did.

Svitolina knew she needed a strong start to the second set, getting a 40-0 stance in front of Swiatek. Unfortunately, it didn’t result in a serve to love and instead went to deuce on errors from Svitolina and big returns from the top seed. They went to deuce twice before Swiatek took a seventh straight game. With the break in hand, the Polish star tied in the hold of serve to sit up eight straight. Svitolina managed to end her slide offensively and hold serve in the third, but it was an uphill battle to force a decider.

Svitolina countered in the fourth, scoring a big lead to hold Swiatek to a point. The Ukrainian fired well on serve in the fifth but her forehand erred during critical moments. It left the top seed to reclaim the lead on deuce and try to return to run away with the set. Svitolina raised her level of offense, getting a jump on the scoreboard in the sixth. Swiatek turned the tables to surge back on serve and double her lead in the set.

Svitolina dug deep on serve in the seventh, keeping her hopes alive with the victory. She converted the break, leveling the score with Swiatek as they entered the business end of the set. The 22-year-old captured the break back, scoring four unanswered to Svitolina before serving for the match. Svitolina battled to bring up a break point, but Swiatek countered to force deuce and reach match point. 

On the eighth point played, the Polish star won the match on an ace attempt that turned into a short rally before Svitolina long-balled it for the error. It took 83 minutes for Swiatek to get into the last eight, where she would face Anastasia Potapova or Qinwen Zhang on Thursday.