Reuters
Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, February 10, 2021 Poland’s Iga Swiatek celebrates winning her second round match against Italy’s Camila Giorgi REUTERS/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
Reuters
Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, February 10, 2021 Poland’s Iga Swiatek celebrates winning her second round match against Italy’s Camila Giorgi REUTERS/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
Seeded No. 5 Elina Svitolina took on the talented player from Poland Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinal of the WTA Italian Open 2021 in Rome. It was their first-ever meet and the battle was won by the French Open champion in straight sets. Swiatek won the match 6-2 7-5 after 1 hour and 36 minutes.
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At the beginning of the set, Elina Svitolina saw herself on the back foot after Iga Swiatek handed her an early break. The young Polish player served with real composure and simultaneously applied pressure on her opponent’s serve.
Set 1: Iga Swiatek dents Elina Svitolina to inch closer towards the finishing line
Swiatek showed no remorse towards Svitolina and broke her for the second time in the set, thus drawing first blood. After 35 minutes into the match, the Pole took the first set 6-2.
Iga served brilliantly, winning 85% of her first-serve points. On the other end, Elina managed to win only 54% of her first-serve points. The teenager won 36 points, which helped her clinch the first.
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Iga Swiatek of Poland in action against Anett Kontaveit (not seen) of Estonia during women’s singles match within 2020 Australian Open at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia on January 27, 2020. Kontaveit won the match with 2-1. (Photo by Recep Sakar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Set 2: Elina Svitolina fails to curb Iga Swiatek
The 19-year-old began proceedings in the second set and held serve after a nervy opening game. In the third game, Svitolina increased her level and broke for the first time in the match. However, Swiatek fought back from the previous loose game and broke right away in the following game to make it 2-2.
In the next couple of games, both players exchanged breaks in a similar fashion as the previous two games, and the set was poised at 3-4 with the Ukrainian athlete to serve.
Both players were playing cautiously as the set entered the business end. At 5-6, Svitolina was serving the stay alive in the match but Iga sensed an opportunity after winning the first two points. In the end, the set was won by the Pole after an hour 7-5.
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BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 02: Elina Svitolina of Ukraine looks dejected after losing a breakpoint in her match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Bulgaria during day four of the 2019 Brisbane International at Pat Rafter Arena on January 02, 2019 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
The winner of this match faces American teenager Coco Gauff in the semifinal. Gauff has caused a few upsets this week after knocking out Maria Sakkari and Aryna Sabalenka. It will be interesting to see who emerges on top of this exciting semifinal contest.
A commanding performance from the teenager 👊
@iga_swiatek raised her game to take out the No.5 seed Svitolina, 6-2, 7-5.#IBI21 pic.twitter.com/Mfy51NVfvB— WTA (@WTA) May 15, 2021
