Serena Williams vs. Elina Svitolina: Score and Reaction from 2016 French Open
A succession of rain delays at the French Open did little to dampen the desire of Serena Williams, as the top seed blasted her way into the quarter-finals with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Elina Svitolina.
The match was the curtain-raiser on what is a packed schedule on Wednesday at the Court Philippe Chatrier. And Williams provided those fans who had braved the conditions with a masterclass in clay-court tennis, as she proved far too strong for her Ukrainian opponent.
The reigning champion will now face either Yulia Putintseva or Carla Suarez Navarro in the last eight.
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Consistently poor weather on Monday and Tuesday has frustrated a lot of players at Roland Garros, providing organisers with a major headache when it comes to getting all these matches played. But Williams is so experienced with tournament scenarios and showcased that versatility in the early stages.
While Svitolina struggled to find any consistency in her play, Williams was ruthless out on court. BBC Sport’s David Law summed up her tremendous start to this match:
Eventually the Ukrainian, seeded 18th for the tournament, did find some fluency in her ball-striking. In the fifth game she finally got on the board, breaking the Williams serve. But with the American in such wonderful form, it was merely postponing the inevitable.
Indeed, the 21-time Grand Slam champion was proving too powerful, agile and intelligent for her opponent, showcasing a brilliant array of shot-making. She broke back immediately, before serving out the first stanza 6-1.
With the set won in just 27 minutes, Williams looked to be doing the schedulers a big favour by getting this one over with quickly.
Things could have gotten ugly after the restart for the underdog, especially with her opponent producing shots such as this, per the tournament's official Twitter feed:
There was more resistance from Svitolina in the second set initially, though. While Williams broke her serve in the first game, at 2-1 the 18th seed carved out a couple of chances to move level. But the champion, as she’s done so often in her career, came up with big serves when it mattered, moving into a 3-1 lead.
It was evident just how much that stung Svitolina, and it was little surprise to see Williams apply the pressure in the very next game. She broke her opponent to love, moving into what was an almost unassailable position at 4-1.
As we can see here courtesy of Live Tennis, the Ukrainian wasn’t doing a particularly good job of hiding her disappointment:
"Accurate summary of #Svitolina's day. After losing a mammoth Serena service game, she drops her own in a flash. 4-1. pic.twitter.com/vH3IV4XHkB
— Live Tennis (@livetennis) June 1, 2016"
The sixth game was another mammoth encounter, with five break points carved out by Svitolina. But once again she came up short on them all, allowing a resolute Williams to take a four-game advantage and clinch the match in the very next game.
This was a very professional job from the 34-year-old, who looks well on course to clinch what’d be a fourth French Open title. With the second and third seeds already eliminated from the draw, Williams has what looks to be a relatively clear run to the tournament final too.
Disruption to a schedule can so often hamper elite players who have meticulous routines, but the manner in which the top seed began this match set the tempo superbly; it was evident from the opening stages there was only going to be one winner here. If she maintains these standards, Williams will have her hands on the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen again this year.
Reaction to follow.
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