LONDON, Great Britain - No.8 seed Elina Svitolina rolled into the second round of Wimbledon in early round action on Monday as she defeated Australian Daria Gavrilova, 7-5, 6-0.
After failing to serve out the first set at 5-3, Svitolina bounced back in a big way at her second opportunity: from 5-5, the Ukrainian won the last eight games of the match to book a place in the second round.
"I think I can play well on grass. I just need to be really focused on what I have to do on court. That's very important for me just to take one match at a time, to don't think too much of what's going on," Svitolina said after the match.
"Also be healthy. That's one of the goals, one of the priorities for me, to be fresh and to give myself a chance to actually play well, because I think, you know, I can play really good. It's just a matter of getting more time on the court and just be focused on what I have to do."
Svitolina broke serve five times in the 65-minute win, as she broke for the first time in the seventh game of the first set after the first six went with serve.
After saving a break point in her first service game of the match, Svitolina didn't face one again until she stepped to the line to serve out the opener at 5-4.
Looking to win her first set against Svitolina in their last six matches, Gavrilova converted to level at 5-5, but proved unable to win another game from then on.
After saving two break points facing a 0-40 deficit, Gavrilova double faulted - one of five for the match - to hand the No.8 seed a lead she'd never relinquish.
The Aussie proved vulnerable in the match when she needed to hit a second serve, as she won just nine of 22 points when she missed her first attempt.
She also racked up 22 unforced errors, eight more than Svitolina, despite hitting just one less winner than her higher-ranked foe overall (14 to 15).
Up next for the Ukrainian will be a rematch against Margarita Gasparyan, after she beat Anna-Lena Friedsam in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.
The Russian upset Svitolina in the first round of the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham two weeks ago in three sets.
"I was gonna speak with my coach and probably he's going to watch back what I did wrong. It was quite close match. It was only I think one break in the end, and I made some stupid decisions, as always," she said with a laugh.
"I think I'm a little bit more prepared now. I'm feeling better. I did recover better from my injury, so I feel physically better. I mean, we're really going to see on the day how I'm going to feel, but I will for sure try something a little bit different and on the return, on my serve, as well. So that's the plan so far.
"It's another chance to play well and hopefully I can play another good match."
Joining the No.8 seed in the second round as an early winner was compatriot Dayana Yastremska, who defeated 2018 quarterfinalist Camila Giorgi in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, and fellow seeds No.17 Madison Keys and No.27 Sofia Kenin.
