Elina Svitolina is still alive at the WTA Finals. The Ukrainian lost the first set to Karolina Muchova on Wednesday, 11 November, but turned the match around in Indian Wells to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. It was her first victory of the season-ending championships and it sets up a straight shoot-out with Aryna Sabalenka on Friday for the last semi-final place from her group.
A match that turned after a medical break
Muchova had the better of the opening set, dictating rallies with her variety and keeping Svitolina on the back foot. According to Sky Sports, Svitolina took an eight-minute medical time-out during the match, and the momentum shifted noticeably once play resumed. The Ukrainian became more patient, found more depth from the baseline and started forcing errors from the Czech.
Svitolina broke Muchova twice in the second set to level the contest and repeated the trick in the decider, pulling clear to close it out. Speaking afterwards, she said she had been angry with herself after her opening defeat and had tried to channel that frustration into her tennis.
- Score: Svitolina won 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
- It was her first win at this year's WTA Finals.
- Muchova, beaten twice, can no longer reach the semi-finals.
Andreeva routs Sabalenka to top the group
The other match in the group was even more striking. Mirra Andreeva beat world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-0 in just 62 minutes, winning the last 11 games and, according to the WTA, 45 of the final 55 points. With two wins from two matches, the 19-year-old has already secured top spot in the group and a first WTA Finals semi-final of her career.
Svitolina had opened her campaign with a straight-sets defeat to Andreeva, which made Wednesday's comeback all the more important.
Everything on the line against Sabalenka
The format splits the eight qualifiers into two round-robin groups of four, with the top two from each advancing to the semi-finals. After Wednesday, the picture in Svitolina's group could hardly be simpler: Andreeva is through, Muchova is out, and one match will settle the rest.
Svitolina and Sabalenka now both stand at one win and one loss, so Friday's meeting is effectively a knockout tie: the winner joins Andreeva in the last four, the loser's season is over. History favours the Belarusian, who has won six of their seven previous meetings, according to the WTA. But Sabalenka arrives on the back of a chastening defeat, and Svitolina has shown this week that she can recover from a poor start.
Why it matters
The WTA Finals bring together the eight best players of the season, and simply qualifying is a mark of year-long consistency. Svitolina, who won the title in 2018, has used this week to show she still belongs among the elite. Ukraine's other representative, Marta Kostyuk, entered as first alternate after Elena Rybakina withdrew, but losses to Linda Noskova and Jessica Pegula ended her semi-final chances. She closes her week on Thursday against Coco Gauff, who must win and also needs Noskova to beat Pegula if she is to reach the last four.
Noskova has already booked her place from the other group after beating Gauff 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday for her second straight win.
That leaves Svitolina as Ukraine's only hope of a place among the season's final four. A win over Sabalenka on Friday would rank among the biggest results of her year.
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