Elina Svitolina looks to extend her winning streak to eight on Sunday afternoon, when she takes on Daria Kasatkina for a spot in the quarter finals. After a slow start, the Ukrainian looks to have finally got back into the groove and will be able to match her career best record at the tournament if she secures a seventh straight win against Kasatkina.
Kasatkina had not pulled up any trees during the clay warmup tournaments, except on the non-traditional green clay in Charleston. However, she has looked very impressive here and is yet to drop a set. After cruising past former finalist Marketa Vondrousova, she destroyed Peyton Stearns for the loss of just one game.
Svitolina came from a set down to win for the second match running, this time doing so against Anna Blinkova in a repeat of the Strasbourg final. She looked extremely tight in the latter stages of the 2-6 6-2 7-5 victory but held her nerve to finally close out the match with a trademark backhand. “I’m trying to take one match at a time, try to give everything what I have each match,” Svitolina said afterwards. “Sometimes, you know, like last two matches didn’t go my way in the first set, but I tried to fight back, tried to find my way into the match. In the end, you know, I could push through, could push through these tough moments to find my rhythm back.
Another three setter will not be ideal for Svitolina, with worries that she may be running out of steam following a hectic two weeks. Kasatkina is the bookmakers favourite but this is still a matchup that should favour Svitolina although her transition to a slightly more offensive player will be put to the test here with an in-form Kasatkina the best player the Ukrainian will have played so far. She would still be a top 10 player in the live rankings but Kasatkina would be in danger of falling out by the end of the tournament if she fails at this stage with semi final points to defend.
Prediction – Elina Svitolina in three sets
