Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina eliminated Viktoriya Tomova (Bulgaria) in the second round of the Australian Open after 2-0 (6:1, 6:3). The Ukrainian, who returned after maternity, was a complete master on the court and did not give many chances to the Bulgarian, who could not find a counter to her powerful and aggressive game. Thus, after 65 minutes of play on court congratulated herself on the final success and moved on.
The match between the two was delayed by rain in Melbourne, which for the second day in a row disrupted the program at the first Grand Slam of the year.
This is Viktoriya Tomova’s third loss to Elina Svitolina after those at the Billie Jean King Cup in 2020 and in Monterey in 2022. Despite today’s defeat, Viktoriya Tomova will still have a fond memory of the 2024 Australian Open as she recorded her first career main draw win (against Kayla Day by 2-0) in four appearances.
Viktoria Tomova started the match in the best possible way – with a break. In the very next game, however, Elina Svitolina in turn broke and equalized – 1:1, and a little later she strengthened it and led with 2:1. In the fourth game, the Bulgarian pulled ahead with 40-15, but her opponent’s aggressive play forced her to take the ball out three times and she conceded a reversal, allowing Elina Svitolina to record a second break of the match. A new game followed on the account of the Ukrainian and 4:1 in her favor. The sixth game in which Viktoria Tomova served was the longest until that moment. She took the lead in the result, but the Ukrainian was pushing the ball hard. There were three ties and two opportunities for a new breakthrough for Elina Svitolina, who did not miss her second chance and made it 5:1. A quick service game ensured the Ukrainian a clear success in this first set with 6:1. set in 29 minutes.
At the beginning of the second set, the two exchanged one game each, but in the 3rd Elina Svitolina again imposed her supremacy on Viktoria Tomova’s serve and made another breakthrough. She led 30-0, Victoria returned one point, but the next two games were won by the 19th-ranked Ukrainian, who was ahead by 2:1. Viktoria Tomova, however, quickly restored the tie after returning the break in the very next serve of Svitolina, although her rival had a lead of 30-15 – 2:2. A tough service game from Viktoria Tomova gave her a 3:2 lead, but Elina Svitolina fought back with a game on zero to equalize. Unfortunately, another break by the Ukrainian followed and its subsequent consolidation for 5:3. Foreseeing a close victory, Elina Svitolina gave it her all and broke at zero her opponent for the ultimate success that came after 65 minutes of play.
For the statistics, Viktoria Tomova made 2 breaks in the match, but conceded 6, recorded 10 winners to Elina Svitolina’s 25 and made 20 unforced errors, while her opponent had 17.
In the next round, Elina Svitolina will face Viktorija Golubic (Switzerland), who eliminated Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) after 2-1 (6:3, 2:6, 6:4).
Elina Svitolina reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open twice. She reached career-high rankings of world No 3 in singles.
Meanwhile, Emma Raducanu (Great Britain) lost to Yafan Wang (China) by 1-2 (4:6, 6:4, 4:6).
