Elina Svitolina continued her impressive title defence at the 2019 WTA Finals with a stirring 7-5 6-3 win over Simona Halep that earns her a place in the semi-finals in Shenzhen.
The Ukrainian, 25, won the last edition of the event in Singapore despite heading into it on the back of a poor run of form during the Asian swing.
This year, Svitolina is in much better form, and she has looked imperious so far at the tournament’s new home. Thanks to her two straight-sets wins, she has already qualified for the last four with one match still to play.
In her first match, she beat Karolina Pliskova in two tight sets. Then she picked up where she left off as she won the first three games of her encounter with Halep.
However, like Svitolina, the Romanian is a fierce competitor. She fought back to level the score at 3-3 and soon dragged the Ukrainian into the kind of pulsating baseline battle that typically occurs during their clashes.
For the next five games, there was so little to choose between the two players. Both Halep and Svitolina chased down ball after ball and there were some fantastic rallies that always seemed to be won by whoever wanted it more at the time.
But at 5-6 down, the Romanian faltered. She played a poor game and lost her serve to love. And, just like that, the set was gone.
Svitolina takes control
The second set was not as close. After she was broken in game three, Svitolina fought and scrapped her way to an immediate break back.
And from then on, the World No.8 took control. She almost broke Halep again in between two comfortable holds that moved her 4-3 ahead.
At the changeover, Svitolina’s coach Andrew Bettles told her to ‘keep going after it’. And that is exactly what the Ukrainian did in the next game. She repeatedly forced Halep behind the baseline with deep groundstrokes and earned a break to love.
It looked like the match might go on a bit longer when the World No.8 showed some understandable nerves and fell 15-40 behind. However, she gathered herself and won the next four points to seal an excellent victory.
Ultimately, given how similar the two players are in terms of style and ability, the result of the match was probably decided by who was sharper on the day. On this occasion, it was Svitolina, who has played 25 matches since Wimbledon, who beat Halep, who has played just 11 matches during the same time period.
Going forward in this event, the Ukrainian should arguably be considered the favourite to win it for the second year running. She has beaten two high-quality players without dropping a set, she seems right at home in the WTA Finals environment and she looks fresh and ready to compete. Can anyone stop her?
