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Elina Svitolina had it easy and ended the match overcoming a difficult challenge in the opening round of the US Open on Monday. The Ukrainian ease off just a little in the second set that saw Whitney Osuigwe fighting big but she ultimately went down in straight sets 1-6, 5-7, on Court 17 at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center. It marked the 250th win of Svitolina's career.
The world number five was facing the sophomore teen for the first time . After a solid semifinal run at Wimbledon and making the semis in Toronto, the 24-year-old had a lot going for her to try and make this year her best ever in New York.
With more coverage on the Ukrainian than ever, the need for a good run against the American teenager was key to starting in the right frame In her first face-off against a top-five player, the pressure would start out heavy for Osuigwe and test her ability to handle the weight.
Svitolina got a comfortable start with a break of the teen before holding serve to love in the second. Good baseline coverage and response from the Ukrainian opened the gap wider with Osuigwe double-faulting for a third time. The fifth seed gained another game on the American teen with another comfortable hold. Serving was a problem for Osuigwe who committed a fourth double fault and overplayed the ball for errors.
With the serve in hand for the set and a possible shutout, Svitolina tried to go for it but was challenged by a much better game from the 17-year-old. She earned the break against the fifth seed and receive cheers from the crowd. Despite not getting the perfect set out of the way, the Ukrainian was on a mission to not let further ground slip away. She gained two set points against Osuigwe’s struggling serve to see it finish on a fifth double fault that lasted 24 minutes. Osuigwe had 15 unforced errors and lagged on the service playing under 60 percent.
With good consistency from the world number five, she walked into the second set holding serve but saw Osuigwe record her first serve to love. They went along comfortably through four until the American found a way to put the ball in a difficult spot where Svitolina couldn’t cleanly get it back.
She erred to give Osuigwe the break and her first lead and continued to do so before a double fault nearly brought her streak to an end. She saved it to increase her streak to three games, opening the gap while inching closer to forcing a third set.
Svitolina knew she had to settle the sudden nerves and recover lost ground which came in the shape of a strong service game to cut the gap to one. The eighth was Svitolina’s chance to earn the break and level but the fight from Osuigwe was getting stronger. She went to deuce with the Ukrainian but made the mistake on a wide return to lose control and stand evenly at four-all.
When it looked as if the Ukrainian had Osuigwe sorted, she blew a shot to take a 5-4 lead and gave it to the 17-year-old for the break and a chance at forcing a decider. It did not come down to that as a third break sealed the two into going deeper into the set with one game needed and seven required to win the set. The first hold after four breaks went to Svitolina who was more than determined to end the match on her terms.
Drawing errors was the mission for the fifth seed. With one left, it came down to the longest rally of the match that ended with the 24-year-old scoring it on a line drive winner for her 17th of the match. The last set extended the match longer than Svitolina wanted to be on court but finishing in 1 hour and 14 minutes was not a bad result.
“It was the point of the match,” Svitolina said after her win on court. “Whitney was fighting till the end and this was a great step for the future for her.” While she breathed a sigh of relief, the difficulty of her path through the draw increased as she faced former world number one tennis veteran Venus Williams in the second round.
