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Sixth seed Elina Svitolina takes on the Czech youngster Marketa Vondrousova in the second quarter-final of 2019 BNP Paribas Open.
The two have met each other twice, and the Ukrainian has won both of those matches. The Czech has been able to take only one set off Svitolina so far. However, the youngster is in terrific form in this tournament and can pose a stiff challenge to the higher seed.
Vondrousova has already accounted for some of the biggest names in world tennis at Indian Wells, including Simona Halep, last year’s finalist Daria Kasatkina and Jelena Ostapenko, all ranked much higher than her.
In fact, she won her first two rounds in straight sets and it was only in her third and fourth-round match against Ostapenko and Halep respectively that she was taken to a third set. Before coming to the Indian Wells, she had reached the Budapest Open final, her second WTA final yet.
On the evidence of the quality of tennis she is producing, she is certainly going to be another addition to the long line of women tennis stars that the Czech Republic has produced in recent times. Her quarterfinal opponent is the Ukrainian Elian Svitolina, who has not won a title since her epic WTA Finals title last October.
She began the season by losing in the second round of the Brisbane International. Her grand slam jinx continued with a quarterfinal loss to the eventual champion Naomi Osaka.
Both at the Qatar Open and Dubai Open, she lost at the semi-final stage to Halep and Bencic, respectively. She was a two-time defending champion at the later event.
At the Indian Wells, she has managed to reach the quarter-finals without looking convincing. She won a tight three-setter against Sofia Kenin in her first match. She managed a straight sets win over Daria Gavrilova in her second match, but lost her serve six times in that match.
She was taken to another three-setter against Ashleigh Barty in the pre-quarters, where again she was broken six times. Especially worrying was her second serve win percentage at a lowly 49%.
Unless she improves her game, especially her serve, she may be in for a rude shock against a confident Vondrousova.
Prediction: Elina Svitolina to win in 3 Sets
