By Tennis Now | Sunday, October 21, 2018
Elina Svitolina swept nemesis Petra Kvitova, 6-3, 6-3, in the opening match of White Group play at the WTA Finals in Singapore.
Eyes riveted on the ball, Elina Svitolina transformed four years of misery into two sets of magic.
Moving fluidly and striking cleanly, Svitolina swept nemesis Petra Kvitova, 6-3, 6-3, in the opening match of White Group play at the WTA Finals in Singapore.
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The seventh-ranked Svitolina snapped a seven-match losing streak to Kvitova, beating the explosive Czech for the first time since 2014 and the second time in nine meetings.
"[I am] very, very happy with the match tonight and of course with the crowd it's amazing to see all the happy faces," Svitolina told Andrew Krasny afterward. "I'm very, very pleased with the performance tonight."
Exuding more calm and clarity, Svitolina played cleaner tennis throughout. She saved four of five break points and committed 18 fewer errors than an erratic Kvitova, who littered the stat sheet with 29 winners and 29 unforced errors.
Covering the court quickly, Svitolina repelled her opponent's aggressive shots and drained errors from the 2011 WTA Finals champion at crunch time.
"Definitely I had to really stay focused and really strong mentally," Svitolina said. "I think this is the key because she strikes the ball really hard. I had to react really quickly and move my feet. I need a massage now."
Midway through the first set, Svitolina unleashed a five-game surge turning a 2-3 deficit into a 6-3, 1-0 lead.
The two-time Wimbledon winner was missing first serves in bunches in the latter stages of the opening set.
Svitolina exploited the lapse driving deep returns and giving the Czech little opportunity to step into the court.
The left-hander netted a backhand to face triple set point. On her second set point, Svitolina took the 39-minute opener when Kvitova double-faulted into net.
It was the Ukrainian's third break of the set. Kvitova quadrupled Svitolina's unforced error output—16 to 4—in the opening set.
Svitolina held to start the second set—her fifth straight game.
Finding the range on her forehand, Svitolina earned two break points in the third game and put herself in position for the break but sprayed a smash long.
Shaking off that miss, Kvitova rocketed a forehand return for a third break point, but Svitolina denied it with a slick pick-up off the baseline holding for 2-1.
Each time Kvitova made a push, Svitolina had an answer.
Touching the center stripe with a second-serve ace, Svitolina held firm for a 3-2 second-set lead.
Throughout the match, Svitolina played cleaner combinations crosscourt, while Kvitova struggled to find the range on her drives.
Poking a forehand into net, the Czech faced double break point with her 24th unforced error of the night. Kvitova floated a forehand long gifting the first break of the second set and a 4-2 lead to Svitolina.
The 24-year-old baseliner blew a 40-love lead, but recovered navigating a deuce hold to extend her lead to 5-2.
Kvitova made successive forehand errors ending the opening match of the tournament in one hour, 28 minutes.
When it was over an ecstatic Svitolina screamed into her towel in delight.
"[You need] the best level you can ever imagine," Svitolina said. "Everyone is very, very strong. From the beginning we have very tough matches. Even if you don't start well here in Singapore you're still alive and still fighting for the semifinals."