Elina Svitolina rolls on with another win over Daria Kasatkina, hungry for more success
The Elina Svitolina juggernaut moved into the quarter-final of the Citi Open as the Ukrainian took out fifth seed Daria Kasatkina with a straight-set win.
Svitolina has already enjoyed some remarkable results this year as she reached the quarter-final of the French Open – beating the same Kasatkina en route – and the semi-final at Wimbledon after ousting four Grand Slam champions in world No 1 Iga Swiatek, two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka, 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin and seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams.
Let’s not forget that she only returned to competitive tennis in April after giving birth to her first child, a daughter named Skai, in October last year.
Having beating Azarenka on Monday to reach the second round, Svitolina continued the momentum with an impressive 6-2, 6-2 win over Kasatkina.
“I just try to fight each time I play Dasha,” Svitolina said. “She’s a tough opponent to face, and each time I try to play just one extra ball over the net, to take and dictate the game. I’m really happy I won the match today.”
A strong showing from @ElinaSvitolina 💪
She's through to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Kasatkina.#MubadalaCitiOpen pic.twitter.com/JxwB93VYfF
— wta (@WTA) August 2, 2023
While on maternity leave, Svitolina slumped to outside the top 1,300 in the WTA Rankings, but her recent performances has seen her climb back into the top 30 and she is projected to rise further to No 26 after the Washington event.
Svitolina, who will face either top seed Jessica Pegula or lucky loser Peyton Stearns for a place in the semi-final, revealed after her win over Azarenka that her hunger following her Wimbledon exit is one of the main reasons why she is able to keep the momentum.
“I have been practicing after Wimbledon in a good spirit,” she explained. “I was really hungry to go on the court, practice my game, and almost the day after when I went back home, I practiced with Gael already after the semi-final. So, that’s why, for me it’s a different story than before. So, I try just to take the positives and build on that.”
In the bottom half of the draw, third seed Coco Gauff got the better of qualifier Hailey Baptiste, winning 6-1, 6-4 to set up a quarter-final match against sixth seed Belinda Bencic, who defeated American Lauren Davis.
