Svitolina breaks into top 10 with Dubai win

DUBAI: Elina Svitolina beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-2 to win a raindelayed final at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Saturday, which sent her into the top 10.

The Ukrainian cracked the elite on tenth for the first time as she defeated 2011 champion Wozniacki, a former world No.1seven years ago.

Svitolina’s victory in a match, which began two hours late due to weather marked the biggest win of her career.

The Ukrainian, who won the Taipei title this season, spent 54 minutes in claiming the first set in a battle of long points, with Wozniacki saving two set points — one with a second-serve ace — before losing from a forehand long.

Svitolina took a 3-2 lead in the second set on a break, then reached 5-2 before drilling a forehand winner down the line for victory after less than 90 minutes.

Wozniacki was playing her second final in as many weeks after finishing runner-up in Doha to Karolina Pliskova.

In Rio de Janeiro, second-seeded Dominic Thiem beat Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-2, 6-3 to reach the Rio Open semifinals, where he is the favorite following No. 1 Kei Nishikori’s defeat in the first round.

Thiem has won seven ATP singles titles — five of those on clay. He was tested at times, saving eight break points out of 10, but took all six of his chances on Schwartzman’s serve.

“There were many opportunities for him, but I’m happy the way I played on his break points,” Thiem said. “I think it was my best performance here in Rio.”

The 23-year-old Austrian next faces Albert Ramos-Vinolas. The Spaniard defeated Nicolas Kicker by the same score, breaking the Argentine’s serve three times.

Ramos-Vinolas defeated Thiem last year in their only previous match, 6-1, 6-4 in Chengdu, China.

Thiem’s best surface is clay, though he won his first hard-court title a year ago in the Mexico Open, where he plays next week.