The 2020 tennis year of ... Elina Svitolina
Elina Svitolina showed her qualities again in 2020, especially on sand. Almost more was possible, had it not been for two surprising defeats.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit:
Dec 22, 2020, 09:52 am
Elina Svitolina has long been compared to Alexander Zverev: Successful on the tour - but without the big breakthrough in Grand Slam tournaments. In 2017 she reached her highest place with 3rd place in the WTA ranking, but two quarter-finals at the French Open have been the highest of feelings in matters of majors so far.
That changed at least a bit in 2019 when Svitolina made it to the semifinals at Wimbledon and the US Open. A sign that the final breakthrough at Grand Slam level should follow in 2020?
Unfortunately, no. Australia was not worth the trip for the 26-year-old, in Brisbane she lost straight to Danielle Collins (1: 6, 1: 6) in the beginning, in Melbourne in round 3 just as straight to the eventual finalist Garbine Muguruza (1: 6, 2 : 6). By February the balance was: 6 wins, 6 defeats - too few. In Monterrey, however, Svitolina lived up to her favorite position and won the tournament, although an opponent from the top 50 did not have to conquer.
French Open ends in disappointment
The return to the beloved sand in September: was mixed. In the quarter-finals in Rome, Svitolina lost surprisingly smoothly to Marketa Vondrousova (3: 6, 0: 6) before she celebrated a nice tournament success in Strasbourg, where she defeated Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals and Elena Rybakina in the final. And thus set an example for Roland Garros. Where one of the surprise women, Nadia Podoroska, smashed hope for more with a 6: 2, 6: 4 in the quarter-finals ...
Will the longed-for final or even victory in a major be due in 2021? We are excited.
Elina Svitolina: 2020 in numbers
- 21 wins, 9 losses
- 2 tournament victories, quarter finals in Roland Garros
- World number 5 at the end of the year