Svitolina sets Eala rematch in Washington quarterfinals: 'A new challenge'
Five weeks ago in Berlin, Alexandra Eala's victory over Elina Svitolina was one of three Top 10 wins that defined her breakthrough grass-court season.
But on a "new surface" and in "a new country and new city," as Svitolina put it, the Ukrainian hopes for a different result when they meet Friday in the quarterfinals of the Mubadala DC Open.
Svitolina set the rematch with a 7-6(4), 6-4 win over Polina Kudermetova in the second round on Thursday night. Kudermetova served for the first set twice, and had a set point at 40-30 at 6-5, before Svitolina completed the win.
The second seed saved set point with a backhand passing shot winner that closed a nine-shot rally where Kudermetova was in control, and later, dug out of a 4-3 second-set game in which she saved three break points to complete the gritty victory.
The 1 hour and 27-minute win marked Svitolina's first in over a month, dating back to an opening win against Liudmila Samsonova in Bad Homburg on June 23.
"I was trying to be locked in ... first match, hard courts, everything is new," Svitolina said afterwards. "She had a couple of matches in the qualifying, the first round ... so it was nice to find my game, find my serve towards then end of the match, so I'm happy to be through into the quarterfinals."
"I was eager to get back on track," she added. "I'm happy that I could handle the first set, get back as quick as I can, and find opportunity to win. I was not expecting to play perfectly in the first match. When you have a break, when you have not played competitively for a bit, it's not easy.
"I think she played quite well ... her game is quite big with big shots, so I missed a couple of opportunities, but in the end I was happy with the way I could handle myself and my nerves in the tiebreak in the first set, and then the game was much better from my side."
Against Eala, Svitolina will bid for her first semifinal berth since winning the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in May.
"It was not an easy battle for me," Svitolina said of her 6-4, 6-3 defeat to Eala on grass. "Tomorrow is a new surface, new country, a new city, so it's a new challenge, and hopefully I'm going to draw some confidence from today's match and carry it into tomorrow."
