Generation fight

A poisoned gift for Ukraine’s number 1?

I don’t think so!

Svitolina has just gone through, I think, the worst possible scenario for her first week. She was dominated by a very basic, ABC-style Kartal, who gets everything back. She stays one meter behind the baseline and maintains constant defense until she wears her opponent down. Svitolina lacked speed and even power. You could see her hitting with all her might and yet Kartal was still there. The Brit had the match in hand, with a break up in the third set, but Svito broke back easily under pressure. Then Kartal had two break points she couldn’t convert. At some point, that’s a lot to handle against an experienced and smart top-15 player like Svitolina, and it ended up being ruthless for Kartal. Elina’s serve is still something that can be improved, a recurring issue throughout the week.

This generational face-off should, all in all, be within her reach. All these borderline matches are still building up her confidence, even if fatigue is slowly setting in. Iva Jovic has developed her serving game and covers the court well, but she’ll be under real pressure playing against a top player. The Ukrainian knows perfectly how to counter this kind of fiery profile, still in the process of gaining maturity, especially in a semifinal context. Whatever happens, Iva Jovic will come out of this match having grown.