World No.5 Elina Svitolina has kicked off her 2021 season at the WTA 500 event in Abu Dhabi. She easily went past 181st ranked and two-time Grand Slam finalist Vera Zvonareva. Svitolina will be hoping to have a positive start to her 2021 season and finally end her Grand Slam hoodoo.

The match was top class from Svitolina. She showed why she is in the top five in the WTA rankings. The match lasted merely over 70 minutes as Svitolina finished it in straight sets.

As the match progressed, Svitolina’s serve improved a lot. The first set had a bit of a fight between Svitolina and Zvonareva, but the Ukrainian was very dominant in the second one. Vera was able to win just two points off of Svitolina’s serve in the second set, which ultimately resulted in the scoreline being 6-4, 6-1.

After her emphatic victory, Svitolina sat down for the press conference and answered a pertaining question about winning a Grand Slam.

“Well, you know if I if I could look in the future and tell you I would do that but unfortunately, I don’t know. And it’s very tough question.” 

Elina Svitolina looking towards reaching her first Grand Slam final in 2021

Svitolina’s best Grand Slam performances are semifinal appearances at Wimbledon and US Open. She is yet to reach the final of a Grand Slam despite once being ranked as high as number three in the WTA rankings.

“I will do my best to compete the high level and try to get the opportunity to go further than the semi final. And that’s always been my goal and it’s gonna be a goal for the next years.” she told Essentially Sports in the post-match press conference at WTA Abu Dhabi 2021.

Next, Svitolina plays 17th seed, Ekaterina Alexandrova, in the third round. The duo had also faced each other at the third round of the French Open 2020. Svitolina easily defeated Alexandrova, but the Ukrainian’s French Open hopes were later thwarted in the quarterfinals.

Read More: Eugenie Bouchard, Tsvetana Pironkova and Other Favorites at Australian Open 2021 Qualifiers

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