Top seed Elina Svitolina has won the Taiwan Open after dismissing China’s Shuai Peng 6-3, 6-2, in the final.
Sunday’s encounter at the Taipei Arena was a chance for Svitolina to get her revenge against the 2014 US Open semifinalist. In their only previous meeting at the New Haven Open (2014), Peng claimed the match in straight sets. Since then Svitolina has clawed her way up the rankings, defeating two world No.1 players (Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber) within a 12-month period.
The world No.13 overcame a tentative start to both sets when she dropped her serve before exerting her dominance in the match with the help of some heavy groundstrokes against Peng. During the encounter, the Ukrainian converted 6 out of her 10 break point opportunities, won 76% of her first service points and hit six aces.
“It’s incredible. I didn’t even think that I will perform in the final because I had a very tough match in the quarter-finals. I am glad that I was able to play tonight. I got great pleasure from the way they cheer in the stands. The audience supported me all week, it pushed me to play better and better.” Svitolina said during her on-court interview.
The route to the title wasn’t straightforward for Svitolina. On Friday she had to save four match points before defeating Tunisian Ons Jabeur in the quarter-finals. Then in the semifinals, she eased her way past Luxembourg’s Mandy Minella in straight sets.
“Thank you, this week was perfect. Looking forward to coming back next year to defend the title!” -Champion @ElinaSvitolina pic.twitter.com/Xg3SPouUE3
— WTA (@WTA) February 5, 2017
Svitolina’s triumph rewards her the fifth WTA title of her career and the first this year. Despite claiming a title this week, the 22-year-old will remain 13th in the WTA Rankings, the highest position achieved in her career so far.
Svitolina’s route to the title
R1: Def Evgeniya Rodina RUS 6-0, 6-3
R2: Def Lucie Hradecka CZE 6-4, 7-5
QF: Def Ons Jabeur TUN 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(4)
SF: Def Many Minella LUX 6-3, 6-2
F: Def Peng Shuai CHN 6-3, 6-2
