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Elina Svitolina marked her second time advancing to week two of the Championships Wimbledon Friday. What started out as a comfortable opening set win for the Ukrainian became a challenge when Maria Sakkari won the second set tiebreak but couldn’t link more in the decider losing 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-2 on Court Three at the All England Tennis Club.
The two European stars had never met before, making it a huge deal for the Greek and an even important moment for Svitolina. Her sudden win on Wednesday when she was on the verge of being ousted from competition against Margarita Gasparyan was the wakeup call she needed to lose the mistakes and play textbook tennis regardless of the lack of experience on grass.
Sakkari had the same issues but made time during the season to get points wherever possible. Defeating the world number eight would've been a huge victory as she entered her second career third round match in the tournament.
The capability of both player’s talents had the match going the way it was meant to start with Svitolina gaining points but unable to break the Greek star early. It was more obvious in the second when Sakkari overcame a 40-15 deficit to force deuce and run through five breaks failing to end it on her only AD point break chance.
After a second service hold, the 23-year-old converted the first break that was followed by a break back from the eighth seed due to Sakkari’s pair of double faults. After Svitolina scored her first serve to love in the sixth, she implemented the double break with help from the Greek’s third double to that she was done running alongside in the set.
The Ukrainian went on to take the set 6-3 that took 34 minutes to accomplish a strong foothold. The four double faults that Sakkari committed were her true downfall to give the eighth seed so much ground but an opportunity arose for her to make her mark in the match.
Breaks for Sakkari began the second as she allowed Svitolina two points on her way to the double and a 3-0 lead. When it looked like the momentum from the first would dictate the remainder of the match, Svitolina managed to break back and gain a second to consolidate the previous game.
The 31st seed regained a two-game buffer but the challenged had already been accepted by the 24-year-old to stay in tight contention. She avoided going a set down twice which set up more games but with the holds becoming important to both, an inevitable tiebreak ensued.
Sakkari made another three-point push with the minibreak in hand before Svitolina could get on the board. One point was all she could attain as Sakkari coasted to victory with the 7-1 score that forced a key decider.
The second serve let Svitolina down scoring on 2 of 11 opportunities and the return game in ruins with 9 of 25. With the notion of her willingness to continue fighting, the eighth seed gave Sakkari just that leaving nothing on the table.
After Sakkari opened with a hold in the first game, Svitolina answered with a hold giving the Greek two points before converting the break in the third. A serve to love opened the margin for the eighth seed before the 23-year-old got back within reach of a tie after five. The sixth game was a key moment for the Ukrainian to hold but in a tight contest for it, the two went to deuce with Sakkari overcoming another 40-15 hole.
She, unfortunately, blew two break chances that opened the door for Svitolina to maintain the hold of serve and sit up 4-2. A massive statement was made in the seventh edging Sakkari late to achieve her second of the set before going all-in to end it on serve. The 24-year-old put together three match points fast but lost them on three straight unforced errors with the backhand letting her down.
Sakkari had the AD point gifted to her on a fourth straight error but couldn’t put it away on a backhanded volley. She made up for it to gain a second chance but lost it on a forehand error. Svitolina decided enough was enough and scored her 15th winner to reach her fifth match point and get it done in two hours and eight minutes with the 31st seed erring on the forehand that marked her 49th.
With a full day of tennis into the books for the Ukrainian her actions to hold back the resurgence from Sakkari opened the door to make possible a run to the quarterfinals which continued to elude her at Wimbledon. As she waits for her next opponent to be either Danielle Collins or Petra Martic, the 24-year-old would take the win and focus on preparing for more success along the way.
