[ad_1]
Ukraine’s first racket Elina Svitolina (No. 5 WTA) began by winning the Main Draw at the Australian Open.
In the first round, the 26-year-old Ukrainian defeated Czech Maria Bozkova (No. 50 WTA).
Australian Open. First circle
Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) – Maria Bouzkova (Czech Republic) – 6: 3, 7: 6 (5)
Immediately after the draw, it became clear that in the first round Svitolina would have to sweat. Bouzkova is quite an unpleasant opponent, although she has no advantage over Svitolina in shooting and serving power. But the Czech also moves on the court and her technical arsenal is diverse. With fighting qualities, too, everything is fine, we remember him from the Monterrey final.
It all started predictably, Bouzkova often used the outlets to the net and tried to push very actively on the reception of the second serve. And if we manage to somehow cope with the first threat, the second constantly made itself felt. Also, today Elina had a very low hitting percentage on the first service court. This made him play extra points on his serve, which undoubtedly sapped his strength and overloaded his shoulder.
Getty Images / Global Images Ukraine. Maria bouzkova
The third and fourth games became key in the first set. First, Svitolina played the opponent’s break point, and then she won a triple, and the Czech woman immediately presented a double. In general, in the first set, Bouzkova often made mistakes, despite the fact that in the rallies she felt quite good. Svitolina’s mistakes were more noticeable, because they already happened in a winning position, but in total they were a little less. The Ukrainian managed to defend all her services, the initial game was won from the fourth set point.
At the beginning of the second set, the players exchanged breaks, after which no one had any special opportunities to win someone else’s serve. The real meat grinder started in the eighth game, which lasted 11 and a half minutes. Svitolina missed four game balls, while Bouzkova was able to break twice. As a result, the Ukrainian still took a point, but the rest of the game went according to the scenario of taking a win “in the teeth”. It was clear that Elina was frankly losing strength, it was less noticeable on her opponent.
Getty Images / Global Images Ukraine. Elina Svitolina
Svitolina in the 10th game was also forced to play setball, which Maria won in the 28-hit draw. Of course, it all came to a tie-break. At first, Elina earned a couple of great points on the net, but it didn’t work out as an easy ride, because the serve didn’t help. But the Czech did not play perfectly in the tie-break, she made mistakes in the fight. Fortunately for us, this time everything went well, Elina won in a fierce fight between two characters, it is very good that the game does not last for the third set. I wanted a win with more confidence, but as is.
This was the third meeting of tennis players, the Ukrainian won the second time.
In the next round, Svitolina will play American Corey Gauff (No. 48 WTA).
If you find an error, select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
[ad_2]
