Svitolina downs Kontaveit, to defend Italian Open title
rome — Holder Elina Svitolina dominated Anett Kontaveit 6-4, 6-3 in 74 minutes on Saturday to reach a second straight final at the Italian Open.
The Ukrainian will play for the trophy in Sunday against the winner of the high-profile semifinal between Maria Sharapova and top seed Simona Halep. The first meeting between Svitolina and Kontaveit featured four breaks of serve in the first eight games, with the fourthseeded defending champion snatching the early lead after 39 minutes.
Svitolina moved to 3-1 in the second set, reached 5-3 with an ace and served out victory a game later on her second match point. “I’m very proud of myself already that I reached the final. You know, it was really tough, from the beginning, from the first match,” world number four Svitolina said. “I work for these kind of matches, I work on it every day. When my opponent tries to hit everything, I have an answer.
“And when my opponent tries to play maybe a little bit more into court I can attack, so that’s an answer. Kontaveit, ranked 26th, has been on a roll against top-10 opponents, upsetting second-ranked Caroline Wozniacki and No.9 Venus Williams this week.
On Friday, former world number one Maria Sharapova stepped up her French Open preparations with a battling 6-7(6) 6-4 7-5 win over reigning Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko in the quarterfinals. Sharapova, 31, will play top seed and world number one Simona Halep in the semis after the Romanian crushed Caroline Garcia 6-2 6-3. Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit knocked out world number two Caroline Wozniacki 6-3 6-1 to record her second consecutive win over a top-10 opponent.