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Elina Svitolina maintained a high level to succeed at the Qatar Total Open on Thursday. The world number seven faced some challenges from qualifier Karolina Muchova but emerged with a straight sets victory 6-4, 6-2 on center court at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex. It was another step in the right direction for the 24-year-old who has reached her first semifinal in Doha.
After a great win against Jelena Ostapenko in the round of 16, the Ukrainian had moved into a great position to possibly dictate the remainder of the tournament as one of the few high-profile players left. She was facing Muchova, who was having a terrific run in her debut in Doha, for the first time.
Svitolina produced a strong service game to begin the match despite having to go to deuce. She gave the 22-year-old no room to work with but Muchova looked to use her powerful forehand to gain control of proceedings.
The two continued to hold serve through six games, with Muchova very much in the contest. After the seventh game, Svitolina called down coach Andrew Bettles who told her to make some small adjustments to combat the swirling wind in the stadium. He asked her for more aggression from the baseline and an increase in intensity to find a break in the set.
Svitolina responded in the eighth game, gaining two break points and converting one of them to take a 5-3 lead with the opportunity to serve for the set. Muchova would not let the set go easily though and dug deep to produce a break of her own. However, while serving to stay in the set, the Czech sent a few groundstrokes flying wide to bring an end to her challenge in the opener after 43 minutes.
Svitolina had a solid first serve percentage above 70, keeping the unforced error count down.
After the Ukrainian held serve to begin the second, Muchova followed suit to get regain some confidence before attempting to strike. She couldn’t get it done though and watched Svitolina wrest control in the sixth game to produce two break points. Muchova saved one with an ace down the middle before Svitolina sent a return wide to force deuce. The 22-year-old was unable to hand on though and found herself two games down.
Svitolina then captured her third straight game to take a commanding 5-2 lead, with all the pressure now on the young Czech. Muchova somehow pulled away to 40-0 but the lead was quickly erased by the fourth seed who forced deuce, took the AD point for match point and ending things with a lucky net chord. The Ukrainian won 78 percent of points on her first serve in the second set which displayed her dominance.
“I didn’t know much about her (Muchova) but she can play really good tennis and I was just trying to move quickly and anticipate my shot,” she said to WTA’s Andy Taylor during her on-court interview.
Svitolina awaits the winner of the match between Julia Goerges and Simona Halep. “I’m going to focus on my game and what I have to do and try to move really good. It’s very enjoyable to play here so I’ll try to enjoy the semifinal and it’ll be a great match for sure.”
