Svitolina survives Stuttgart debut as Vondrousova retires

STUTTGART, Germany - No.3 seed Elina Svitolina was given all she could handle in her debut at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on Thursday afternoon, but eventually advanced to the quarterfinals as Czech qualifier Marketa Vondrousova retired due to a right thigh injury.

The Ukrainian was in the midst of a comeback after dropping the opening set to the in-form teenager in their second round encounter, and was leading overall, 2-6, 6-1, 3-2 when Vondrousova retired before completing her 14th set in five matches this week.

"It's always tough to play an opponent who's a little bit injured, and the clay court doesn't help with this kind of injury that she was carrying. Hopefully she can recover quickly and be ready for the next tournament," Svitolina said after the match.

"She was playing great tennis in the first set. She played a couple of matches already here...she was a little bit more used to it, and I was just trying to find my game."

The Ukrainian was put on the back foot routinely by the 18-year-old qualifier over the course of the last eight games, as Vondrousova used the combination of swinging, left-handed groundstrokes and deft touch to leave Svitolina bewildered. 

From 2-2 in the opener, Vondrousova broke twice and won four straight games to pocket the first set, but Svitolina quickly found her feet and built a 3-0, double-break lead to begin the second set by toughing out three multi-deuce games. 

"I saw her last round of qualies and then I saw a little bit of her in the first round. She was striking the ball really good and was moving pretty good. I was expecting a tough match," the World No.4 added.

"I was just trying to find my way into the match and this was the goal as a first match on clay. It’s always tough and I was just trying to be ready to fight and to go through tough moments."

Svitolina broke twice more to send the match to a decider, but the conclusion was very much in doubt before Voundrousova made the decision to shake hands.

The World No.73 broke to begin the final set, but lost her serve to follow immediately, and was unable to convert on a break point chance which would have put her back in the lead in what proved to be the final game of the match.

After the abrupt end to her first match on clay this season, the World No.3 revealed to the press that she went back out to get in some more practice.

"I had the chances to break at 2-all," Svitolina said. "I didn’t feel my game 100 percent and that’s why we decided to hit a little bit more. I had to work on some things. There are always lots of things to work on, especially after someone retires, then you want to finish it on a good note.

"When you change the surface, it’s always very, very tough. I have to break everything into small pieces and go from there because there are lots and lots of things that I have to work on. I have to change my footwork, I have to hit the ball a little bit differently, I have to or play flatter or play more with shape - so, lots and lots of things that go through my mind."

Up next for Svitolina is a quarterfinal date with No.6 seed Caroline Garcia, who won her second three-setter of the tournament with a 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 victory over 15-year-old wunderkind Marta Kostyuk.

"We played a couple of times last year, which were tough matches. I will just try to be there with my game 100 percent, be ready for the fight and to have tough rallies," Svitolina said. 

"We’ll see. It’s going to be a tough match definitely. It’s good that it’s early in the tournament - I mean it is a quarterfinal but it's still early to have this kind of match in a tournament. It’s going to be a good match. I’m happy that I’m playing a tough opponent."