Elina Svitolina is hoping for a quick recovery as she takes on Jessica Pegula in Saturday’s Dubai final.
The Ukrainian produced a stunning performance as she defeated Coco Gauff in a thrilling three set match to advance to the final in Dubai.
It will be Svitolina’s third Dubai final as she continues her impressive start to the season after reaching the Australian Open semi-finals.
Ahead of the final Svitolina admitted she has it all to do in order to recover for the final, “We’ll do everything possible,” Svitolina told the WTA website.
“Physios are here trying to help me speed up the recovery. Of course, it’s not going to be easy. It’s a final. It’s important to give your everything. I will do my very best to recover and really be there for this big final. For me, it’s important just to keep fighting and trying to do everything that I can. We’ll see how it goes.”
In the final Svitolina will face Jessica Pegula who came back from 6-1 3-1 down to defeat Amanda Anisimova for the fifth consecutive time.
Ahead of the final Pegula admitted it will be a tough battle as she outlined the tactical nuances in the match, “Elina, coming up on a year now since I played her,” the American explained to the WTA website.
“We always have really tough matches. We play kind of similar styles. I think a little bit of counterpunching, but we can play aggressive. We’re very solid, I think, off both wings. I feel like with her, it’s always a mix of trying to be aggressive, but not overplaying because she also moves pretty well and has some good defence.”
The final will take place at 15:00 GMT on Saturday with Pegula leading the head-to-head 5-3.
