Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship 2019: Svitolina cleans Muguruza's clock in straight sets

Garbine Muguruza was taken to the cleaners at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship Wednesday night. What was expected to be a tight match ended with Elina Svitolina sweeping the Spaniard in a 6-1, 6-2 straight sets win on Center Court.

The two rekindled their rivalry for the first time since Toronto in 2017. It was there that the Ukrainian picked up her fourth match win over the Spaniard, before going on to bag the title soon afterward.

Muguruza got off to a good start despite her recent poor form. Svitolina had to defend her serve on deuce before she secured the hold of serve. The second game went much like the first, with Svitolina on the attack and forcing deuce before grabbing the break.

A much-needed break back for Muguruza arrived after that, but then a third consecutive break went in favor of Svitolina who opened the gap to three games by registering another service hold in the fifth.

That forced Muguruza to call her coach Sam Sumyk down to the court. Sumyk told her that she was trying to be too perfect and quick with her serve. He also urged her to come forward on the return and have trust in her game.

But it was a struggle for her to improve quickly as the first serve and forehand let her down at times. Svitolina also had trouble putting the game away, but after five break points and eight minutes played in the game, it was the sixth seed who took a huge 5-1 lead.

Svitolina wasted no time holding serve in the seventh, finishing the set in 31 minutes with Muguruza seemingly spinning out of control. She had 19 unforced errors in the opening set and less than 45 percent of points won on first and second serves.

A key hold to begin the second set was crucial for the 12th seed. She made a double fault but gained two points through errors from the Ukrainian to get to game point. A good rally turned against her though, with Svitolina nailing the drop shot before unfurling a lob that just caught the line to save the point.

The Spaniard still held serve though, and breathed a sigh of relief. The 24-year-old Ukrainian then put together a comfortable service and then broke to go 2-1 up.

It was to be a third game in a row for Svitolina, which turned into a worrying moment for Muguruza. But very little changed in her game, leaving many scratching their heads wondering when the Spaniard would end the slide.

A double break went to the Ukrainian as she continued her onslaught, and the Spaniard again called coach Sumyk down. He told her to make something happen and change the tide of the match, or else she'd be in the locker room within 5 minutes.

But Muguruza still had no consistency with her returns, and couldn't make a dent on Svitolina's serve. In an attempt to stay alive in the match, the 25-year-old gained a 40-0 lead before capturing her first serve to love. She wasn’t pleased with the small success though as she let her emotions out during the break.

Svitolina sat very relaxed in her chair though, and when she came up to serve for the match, the defending champion took her opponent’s response in stride and landed a winner for a match point. A crosscourt rally resulted in an error from the sixth seed, but after gaining the first AD point, she hit a winning volley to wrap up the match in one hour and two minutes.

Muguruza was clearly second best from start to finish, unable to get the first serve above 50 percent. She committed 39 unforced errors, making it an easy ride for Svitolina into the quarterfinals.

.@ElinaSvitolina downs Muguruza, 6-1, 6-2!Slides into @DDFTennis quarterfinals! pic.twitter.com/pE4DB5J1VD

— WTA (@WTA) February 20, 2019

"I was really trying to stay focused on each point and in the end, I was very solid from the baseline finishing shots at the net," she said during her on-court interview. "I was just playing really solid and then Garbine made a few unforced errors here and there and I really got into a good rhythm of my game."

She’ll hope to have that and more when facing Carla Suarez Navarro in Thursday's match. "We played a few times and last time it was very very tough," she said about her next opponent. "We played in Madrid and all the crowd was against me, but hopefully I'll have some support in the stands."