Sports Emcee. Andy Taylor. Qatar Total Open 2018 / Photo: Jimmie48 Tennis Photography
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Sports Emcee Andy Taylor recaps Elina Svitolina’s Round-2 victory
[3] Elina Svitolina -03- (UKR) def [Q] Marketa Vondrousova -58- (CZE) 62 64
The 2018 Season is six weeks old. Elina Svitolina has only lost a single match. She opened the year in Brisbane, earning top-10 wins over Konta and Pliskova en route to the title. In Australia, she reached her third career Grand Slam Quarterfinal. If the five trophies she lifted last year are any indication, this will be a good year for the World #3.
18-year-old Marketa Vondrousova scored a pair of qualifying wins over former top-12 Sabine Lisicki and Slovakia’s Kristina Kucova before eliminating Yulia Putintseva in Round-1 yesterday.
Wednesday’s first match on center court was Marketa’s fourth match in five days. This year’s #3-seed, Svitolina enjoyed a BYE in the 1st-Round. It was her first match since the Australian Open.
Fresher legs. Decisive Victory
Svitolina broke Vondrousova before the first changeover, then again to capture set-1. In the second, Marketa scored her first two break opportunities in game-3, but couldn’t convert. Four games later, she did – then leveled the set at 4-all.
Unfortunately, that was the end of the road for the 18-year-old Czech. Elina’s winning track record got into Marketa’s head. At 4-5, Vondrousova fell apart serving to stay in the match.
Up Next: [16] Petra Kvitova -21- (CZE)
Petra Kvitova continues to win. Less than two weeks ago, Petra won her 21st career singles title in St. Petersburg. Over the weekend, she won a pair of Fed Cup matches in Prague. With her 1st and 2nd-Round victories over Cagla Buyukakcay and Agnieszka Radwanska, she’s now on a 9-match win-streak.
Svitolina and Kvitova have met 7 times over past 3-and-half years. Elina has won only one of those matches – their first – in Cincinnati’s 2nd-Round back in 2014.
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Elina Svitolina
This 23-year-old was nearly unbeatable last year. She won 5 WTA Singles titles in 2017 alone, reached a career-high ranking of World #3, and qualified for the WTA Finals Singapore for the first time. Last month, she picked-up right where she left off, capturing her 10th career Singles title in Brisbane; then reached her third career Grand Slam Quarterfinal at the Australian Open. She owns 5 career wins over World #1’s, including a victory over Serena Williams in the Round of 16 at the Olympic Summer Games in Rio. Competing in her 4th Qatar Total Open, from Ukraine – Please welcome the #3 Player in the World, Elina Svitolina
Marketa Vondrousova
At just 18-years-old, she comes into this year’s Qatar Total Open with a career-high ranking of #54 in the World. Last year, she won her first WTA Singles title in Biel as a qualifier; and a week later, made her Fed Cup debut in the World Group Semifinals, where she won a crucial match against the United States’ Lauren Davis to force the deciding doubles rubber. She went on win her first Grand Slam main draw match at Roland Garros; and last month, won her second Major main-draw match at the Australian Open. A qualifier here in Doha, she’s won three straight-set matches to reach this afternoon’s 2nd-Round match. Competing in her first Qatar Total Open, from the Czech Republic – Please welcome, Marketa Vondrousova
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Day-3. Updated Singles Draw
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Day-3. Updated Doubles Draw
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