Iga Swiatek Slides Past Two-Time Champion Elina Svitolina To Reach Italian Open 2021 Semifinals

Published 05/15/2021, 7:11 AM EDT

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.

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

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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.

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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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.

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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

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Rohan Kollare is a tennis author for EssentiallySports. Rohan has a post-graduate diploma in Sports Management and a trophy cabinet adorned with accolades won in district and state-level tennis competitions. He has previously worked in Content Operations for Disney’s Hotstar for over a year, covering tennis and Formula One.

Iga Swiatek Slides Past Two-Time Champion Elina Svitolina To Reach Italian Open 2021 Semifinals

Set 1: Iga Swiatek dents Elina Svitolina to inch closer towards the finishing line

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Set 2: Elina Svitolina fails to curb Iga Swiatek