Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina was defeated by U.S. player Sloane Stephens in the Rogers Cup semifinals held in Montreal, Canada on Aug. 12.
Stephens beat Svitolina with a score of 6-3, 6-3 during a match that lasted an hour and 38 minutes.
Before the game, twenty-three-year-old Svitolina ranked 5th in the Women’s Tennis Association ranking while Stephens was third.
The first set didn’t start off well for Svitolina as the Ukrainian lost her first serve with a score of 0-40 and then lost another serve. Losing 0-4, Svitolina started to show better control, but Stephens didn’t allow the Ukrainian to make a comeback. The first set ended with a score of 6-3 in Stephen’s favor.
Svitolina started off her second set by winning her first serve but then Stephens made one more break. In the fifth set, which was the longest, Svitolina had three chances to break back, but the American won once again. In the seventh game, Svitolina finally made a break but then lost her serve again. The match ended with a score of 6-3, 6-3.
Svitolina’s serves had only one ace – a legal serve that is not touched by the receiver giving a winning point to the server – and won 64 percent of her first serves. Svitolina also had a low performance on return points and breakpoints.
The Ukrainian was unable to defend last year’s title in Montreal as well. Svitolina is now ranked seventh by the Women’s Tennis Association.
On Aug. 11, Svitolina defeated her Belgian rival Elise Mertens.
