Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina beat her compatriot Anhelina Kalinina 6-3 7-6 (9-7) to reach the second round for the seventh time in her career at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Svitolina hit 14 winners to 5 unforced errors in the first set. The number 5 seed converted the only break point of the match in the second game. Kalinina saved a break point in the sixth game. Svitolina held on her next service games to close out the first set 6-3.
Kalinina earned two set points at 5-4 with a forehand winner in the second set, but Svitolina saved them to send the second set into a tie-break. Kalinina took a 5-3 lead in the tie-break before Svitolina won three consecutive points to earn her first match point at 6-5. Kalinina won two consecutive points to grab her third set point at 7-6, but Svitolina hit three consecutive winners to close out the tie-break 9-7 reaching the second round.
Svitolina converted one of her three break points, while Kalinina missed on all of her chances.
Svitolina set up a second round match against Germany’s Tatiana Maria, who cruised past France’s Varvara Gracheva 6-2 6-1.
Svitolina reached the semifinals in Dubai in 2016 before winning two consecutive titles in 2017 and 2018. The Ukrainian player reached the semifinal in 2019, but lost in the first round in 2020 and 2021 and the second round in 2022.
“It’s a great tournament here. I am really happy to be happy to be back in the city, back on the center court. I have so many great memories. It really brings back joy for me”, said Svitolina.
