Rome Masters: Svitolina cracks Kerber in straight sets
Elina Svitolina got a comfortable win on the court to move on at the BNL Internazionali D’Italia Friday. The world number four earned her sixth consecutive match win allowing very little toAngelique Kerber in a 6-4, 6-4 score at Next Gen Arena on the grounds of Foro Italico. Svitolina improved to a nine set winning streak over the German who the defending champion clearly had figured out for the second time this season.
The former number one had an easy day getting through Maria Sakkari on Thursday recording her second straight sets win in the tournament. Her renewed discovery of focus in her game has led to a good standing in Rome in what was now her 13th meeting with the Ukrainian. Since the tail end of 2016, the young star from Odessa has found defeating the German easier than before when it was challenging to knock off such a strong competitor. With a win over her back in Dubai, the world number four and defending champion would eye further progression to make it to the end of the week.
She had a slow start in the opening game making it slightly easy for Kerber to dictate before she loosened up. The Ukrainian forced deuce but allowed the German to contain the service hold. She got on the board through her own efforts in the second before Kerber laid down a clean serve to love in the third. Svitolina had some difficulty closing out her serve in the fourth as aggressive returns rattled her to fight for control on deuce. When she managed to secure the win, Kerber responded with a second consecutive serve to love; making a clear statement of her intentions.
The German gained her first break of Svitolina playing through the breaks, using cross court shots and occasional volleys to beat the Ukrainian after three break point attempts. The same adversity occurred in the seventh that allowed Svitolina to follow the path of the former number one sitting a game down of a tie. During the break, the 23-year-old called out coach Andrew Bettles who gave her keys to counter-attack and get his athlete in charge of the rest of the set.
She did just that with a solid show of strength on serve in the eight before rattling Kerber to commit errors on her end, handing Svitolina the double break to lead 5-4. With the leverage leaning heavily her way, the Ukrainian dictated the tenth game delivering big hits from the forehand on serve to shut down the German in the opening set after 46 minutes. It was the eighth consecutive set that Svitolina held against Kerber showing her determination with 14 winners and 64 percent on the first serve.
The Ukrainian was on a serious run winning the opening game for her fifth straight in the match with an eight-point streak in tow. All of it came to an end as Kerber leveled the score breaking Svitolina’s service in the second. They remained on the pace Svitolina conducted gaining her third in a row over the German that was a real sign of successful strategy. They went along the breaks through five games until the Ukrainian held firm in the sixth to open the gap.
Kerber found a way to follow suit on serve in the seventh keeping Svitolina within reach while she inched her way to a straight sets win. She held in the eighth with a similar result of her German adversary that put the pressure on Kerber to act tough. She managed to avoid giving Svitolina a break chance but she was still on the edge with the world number four serving for the match. Her serve remained so well in the final game where she put down crosscourt winners allowing one point before capturing a spot in the semifinals after 1 hour and 26 minutes.
Despite having 25 unforced errors, the 23-year old’s first serve didn’t falter under the pressure Kerber dished out at times and responded with a lot of difficult shots that caused issues to her opponent’s second serve which was a hair under 40 percent. With an easy finish going into Saturday, the fourth seed would await her semifinal opponent to be determined between Annett Kontaveit and Caroline Wozniacki.