Elina Svitolina breezes past Kateryna Kozlova to reach the second round – Siberia Cup 2011
In an all-Ukrainian duel, fourth seed Elina Svitolina eased through Kateryna Kozlova with a breadstick at the Siberia Cup 2011, the last ITF event of the year which is taking place on the indoor hard courts in Tyumen, Russia. She
jolted down a 6-1, 6-2 success over her compatriot to secure a round of 16 spot on Monday.
Standing at number 232 in the world rankings with 252 points, Svitolina showed exceptional skills to crush her fellow youngster, ranked 113 points below her in the Sony Ericsson WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Rankings,
in fifty minutes. She is eyeing for her second career title here after earning this victory on their first encounter.
17-year-old went berserk in the opening set, as she blasted powerful ground strokes to wipe out opening five games in a row before Kozlova could hold on. She then comfortably held her serve in the seventh game and earned a breadstick.
Svitolina brushed off the only breakpoint faced and cashed in both break opportunities to register this amazing score line.
The Ukrainian teenager kept momentum sailing into the final set and easily levelled the scores at 2-2. She then went into rage mode and stroke out last four games in a row, sealing the victory by winning six games to two. Svitolina
blocked all four breakpoints she came across through her brilliant defensive skills and converted two out of three breakpoint chances to her advantage.
Up next for Svitolina is her compatriot, Anastasiya Vasylyeva, who crippled a local wild card enterer, Nina Khrisanova, with a breadstick to set-up this meeting. 19-year-old broke the Russian’s serve three times to manipulate a
6-2, 6-1 victory on their first meeting.
Eight seed Daria Gavrilova will accompany the Ukrainian in the round of 16. She overpowered her compatriot, Alexandra Artamonova, with a breadstick on their first battle with each other.
World number 337, Gavrilova confidently stepped on the hard courts of her home soil and after unleashing flurry of massive groundstrokes, she reeled off first four games in a row. Artamonova then came into the score sheet after
holding her serve in the fifth game. However, the seeded Russian maintained consistency in her game and bagged last two games to earn a breadstick.
A local wild card enterer, Gavrilova carried her winning ways in the final set and kept entire serves convincingly. She capitalised on one break opportunity in the last game and clinched the set with a 6-4 score line.
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