Rogers Cup 2019: Sofia Kenin smashes Elina Svitolina in straight sets win
Elina Svitolina was handed a straight-sets defeat at the Rogers Cup on Friday. The hard and accurate hits of Sofia Kenin were too much for the Ukrainian to answer, putting an end to her campaign at the tournament by a 7-6(2), 6-4 margin on Centre Court at the Aviva Tennis Centre.
In a second-round match at Indian Wells, Kenin made a statement in the opening set before proving challenging for Svitolina in a second set tiebreak. The star got cut short in the final set that took her out early.
As the match got underway, the wind picked up significantly to affect the offensive attack of the American. She had too many balls land wide of the court that ultimately gave Svitolina the opening break.
She added a second victory with some trouble with the wind as well but held off Kenin who erred quite a lot. The third game was a contest and fight against the conditions for both players as Svitolina got to deuce on a forehand error.
The competition was high, with changes coming from Kenin who started nailing the line for winners but got into trouble, as she lost the advantage points. They spanned six breaks until the Ukrainian found a way to get the victory and a comfortable 3-0 stance.
A solid service game in the fourth made it a wide margin for her to take the set and walk away but soon, fortunes changed for the American. She struck a victory on serve in the fifth holding Svitolina to a pair of points which was the beginning of things to come.
Kenin cut down the unforced errors and double faults to take on world number six and consolidate her hold with a break. The American painted the lines once again with terrific winners that beat Svitolina, who didn’t have any strong responses to bring together quickly.
She managed to pick up another hold in the seventh but getting Kenin to let up was not on the cards. She answered with two straight wins that leveled them at five-all, setting up for a fight to finish the set. Both held to initiate the set tiebreak but it went one way for the American.
She pulled out two but watched the set end in one hour and three minutes with Kenin scoring a final winner. Despite having five double faults and 26 unforced errors, the ability to produce her best came in the 19 winners while holding Svitolina to seven.
The sixth seed came into the second set directing a good win on serve in the first. Kenin’s forehand came in during the second with Svitolina trying to challenge her. Despite going to deuce, the American locked down the win after two breaks.
A key break handed Svitolina the lead in the third but Kenin responded with a stunning break to love, handing a serious challenge to find a way back for the 24-year-old. Consolidating the hold in the sixth increased the gap with her offensive tactics taking their toll on Svitolina.
The Ukrainian had a 40-0 run that faded away with errors drawn but she scored one final winner in the seventh to sit a game down. A key break was in line for Svitolina to capture but a fightback from Kenin saw her lay down accurate returns that gave her the victory and a 5-3 hold to play for the match.
The sixth seed denied her tough opponent a chance to break for the victory but before she got the chance to convert, Svitolina took a coaching call with Andrew Bettles in a last-ditch effort to get some confidence. It didn’t help in the tenth as Kenin cruised to a win.
Her signature forehand came in the clutch on serve with hard hits that made it difficult for the Ukrainian to answer as she went down on a final error, ending the game in 1 hour and 47 minutes. Kenin had a lot invested in her victory and would look to continue as she comes up against the winner between Bianca Andreescu and Karolina Pliskova on Saturday.