Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina defeated Britain's Emma Raducanu in the Round of 16 at the Auckland Open.
ASB Classic Auckland Open, 2nd Round
Raducanu – Svitolina – 1:2 (7:6, 6:7, 1:6)
It got intense on the court as early as the third game. Raducanu was determined to break, and on her sixth attempt, she finally managed to break Svitolina's serve. Disappointed, Svitolina quickly conceded two more games but swiftly regained control of the situation and continued to fight.
From what seemed like an inevitable setback (1:5), the Ukrainian tennis player managed to come back, scoring 5 points in a row. Svitolina secured herself a tiebreak, but luck turned away from her in the tiebreak, and the British player capitalized on her second set point.
The second set began with an exchange of breaks. By the middle of the set, Raducanu and Svitolina had both scored points on each other's serves (3:3) and then focused on their own serves. The set again went to a tiebreak, but this time, the Ukrainian tennis player won, pushing the match into the decisive set.
Svitolina, riding an emotional high, dominated her opponent. With two breaks, she took a 5:0 lead, allowed Raducanu to score a point, and calmly closed out the match in her favor. In the next round, Svitolina will face Czech player Marie Bouzkova (January 5).
