Aryna Sabalenka was able to overpower Elina Svitolina once again, this time to book a quarter-final spot at the 2024 Cincinnati Open.
This rivalry is quite tense, mostly because of the players' nationalities. Sabalenka is Belarusian, a country widely perceived as aiding Russia in its war efforts in Svitolina's home country of Ukraine. That's why she hasn't been shaking hands with Sabalenka since the war erupted.
Even before that, they enjoyed a rivalry, as they both enjoyed success on the WTA Tour. Before the war, their H2H score was 1-1, but after the war broke out, the Belarusian was able to beat Svitolina twice.
Their most recent meeting happened earlier this year at the Italian Open. That match was close, with Sabalenka barely winning the tie-break of the final set. This match was also close because Svitolina was motivated, while her opponent hasn't played her best tennis recently.
The World No. 3 was beaten at the Citi Open by Marie Bouzkova and then last week at the Canadian Open by Amanda Anisimova. She also recently dealt with a shoulder injury, which further prevented her from playing her best tennis.
This match was solid from Sabalenka because she could have easily dropped that opening set. The outcome of a point largely depended on whether she hit her serve. She dominated if she hit her first serve, but if not, the Ukrainian could find an opening.
That resulted in many breakpoints for Svitolina, but she was only able to use one of the five she had. Sabalenka had two on Svitolina's serve and used both. That was not ideal for the Ukranian because just as she broke to save herself from losing the first set, she lost her serve again.
This time around, Sabalenka was able to hold her serve to win the opening set 7-5. The start of the second set was great for both players because neither gave any chances. They both seemed stable, but that didn't last long.
Svitolina was the first one to run into issues as her opponent was able to break at 2-2 to make it 3-2. The problem for the Ukrainian was always the same against Sablenka. She doesn't have the power in her shots to overwhelm her opponent.
On a fast court like the one in Cincinnati, it ultimately comes down to power. Who is going to hit the ball harder toward the opponent without making a mistake? That's never been the game of Svitolina, as opposed to Sabalenka, who loves to play that way.
After a few weeks on the hard courts, it was only a matter of time before things started to click for Sabalenka, and that's what happened in this match. Despite Svitolina's best attempts, she didn't get a chance to break back and keep herself in the match.
She dropped her serve once more to fall behind 2-5, and from there, it was pretty easy for Sabalenka to win the match 7-5, 6-2, and reach the 2024 Cincinnati Open quarter-finals.
0 Comments