World No. 5 Elina Svitolina took on American teenager Coco Gauff in the second-round match at the Australian Open 2021 today. In their first-ever meeting, it was the higher-ranked Ukrainian player that got the better of the 16-year-old player. Svitolina won the match 6-4 6-3 after an hour and seventeen minutes.  

In the previous round match, Elina Svitolina beat Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova. The match ended 6-3 7-6, which lasted for two hours. On the other hand, the American teenager Coco Gauff beat Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann 6-3 6-2, which lasted less than an hour. 

Elina Svitolina Stepped up Her Game Late in the First Set

As the match began, the Ukrainian player took a 1-0 lead after winning her first service game. Both players, Elina Svitolina and Coco Gauff held their service games effectively. The shot-making displayed by them was of the highest quality. At 5-4, Elina stepped up her game after forcing her opponent to make errors. She eventually broke Gauff in the 10th game to seal the opening set 6-4. 

In the second set, Svitolina began serving and faced a scare after handing her opponent two breakpoints. However, World No. 5 regained focus and came back to win the game. It was important for the young teenager to hold her serve in the next game, which she did. In the fifth game of the set, Gauff squandered her second opportunity to break Svitolina.

In the following game, the 16-year-old did brilliantly and held her serve after the game went to deuce. At 3-4, Gauff got broken after a tense game, which put Elina in the driver’s seat, serving for the match at 5-3. After forty minutes into the set, the former World No. 3 won the set 6-3. 

The Ukrainian tennis player will play her next match against Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva on Saturday. 

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