The WTA Finals began on a dismal note for Elina Svitolina. She suffered a one-sided 6-4, 6-0 defeat to Mirra Andreeva, and things only got worse in the first set against Karolina Muchova, which she lost 3-6. It wasn’t a surprise that Svitolina was frustrated, but she channeled it in the right direction and went on to make a stunning comeback. She won the next two sets, 6-2, 6-2, to keep her campaign alive. The 32-year-old later admitted that the anger from the defeat to Andreeva was a key factor in her triumph against Muchova.

“Well, I tried just to put my head down and find my game first,” she said on The Tennis Channel. “I think I was making too many errors in the first set and not even letting her play the game. So, then I tried a couple of games to play through the middle and just try to hit the ball to find my shots, and I think it worked well. I really released all the angriness that I had in the first set because I was really not happy with the first match and the first set here as well. So, yeah, it helped me today.”

Svitolina roared in celebration after clinching the victory in two hours and two minutes. This was a much-needed result for the veteran, as she would have been eliminated from the tournament if Muchova got the better of her. The situation was looking very tough for her at one stage, and she had to take a medical timeout due to a right hip injury after the first set.

Svitolina was also an early break point down in the second set, but completed a remarkable comeback to rack up one of her most impressive victories of the season. Muchova has no one but herself to blame for the defeat, as despite making a strong start, her game fell apart in the final two sets. She committed a total of 39 unforced errors during the match, and Svitolina capitalized on her mistakes.

The defeat to Svitolina eliminated Muchova from contention for the semifinals. The Czech had suffered a 7-6, 7-5 loss to Aryna Sabalenka in her opening match. She is now the only player in Group B to have not won any of her first two matches. But Muchova can hold her head high as she still had a phenomenal season, winning two titles and reaching the Wimbledon final.

On the other hand, Svitolina will have to win her next match in order to qualify for the knockouts. She will be up against Sabalenka, a player who has a commanding 6-1 advantage over her in the H2H record. The two last met in the semifinals of the Australian Open earlier this year, where the Belarusian triumphed 6-2, 6-3.

On top of this, the recurring hip issue is still bothering Svitolina. She has had this problem for quite some time now, and it even resulted in her withdrawing from an important tournament earlier in the season.

Elina Svitolina had to pull out midway through the Bad Homburg Open due to the hip issue

Svitolina sustained the injury during her clash against Liudmila Samsonova at the Bad Homburg Open earlier in June. Though she managed to record a hard-fought 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory, the hip issue forced her to pull out of the quarterfinal clash against Xinyu Wang. This withdrawal came just days before Wimbledon.

It is expected that the injury affected Svitolina’s campaign at the SW19. She suffered a shock 7-5, 6-2 defeat to her compatriot, Daria Snigur, in the first round. The injury appeared to have healed in the days that followed, as it didn’t affect Svitolina in her next tournaments.

But the match against Muchova proved that the problem is still there. Svitolina will be hoping that it doesn’t come back to haunt her in the upcoming clash against Sabalenka. The Ukrainian admitted that she will have to take measures to recover as much as she can before the match.

“I mean, it’s normal that everyone is tired. Everyone is struggling with something here and there. I will just try to do my best, have an ice bath, and try to heal as much as possible in like 48 hours,” she said after the match.

Sabalenka’s WTA Finals fate also rests on the clash against Svitolina. She failed to secure her place in the semifinals after suffering a 6-4, 6-0 defeat to Mirra Andreeva in her second match. The World No. 2 will be knocked out if she is defeated by Svitolina on Saturday, November 14.