Ukraine's top-ranked player Elina Svitolina has started her American tournament series with confidence. In a second-round match at the WTA 500 event in Washington, the Ukrainian defeated former Russian Polina Kudermetova, who now competes under the flag of Uzbekistan. The match ended with a score of 7-6, 6-4 in favor of Svitolina.
Match progression: from a nervous start to a confident victory
Elina Svitolina began the hard court portion of the season as the second seed, allowing her to start directly in the second round. Her opponent was Polina Kudermetova, who had entered the main draw through qualifying. The start of the match was tense for the Ukrainian: Kudermetova served for the set twice at 5-4 and 6-5. However, Svitolina switched to cold calculation, saved the threat, pushed the game into a tiebreak, and finished off her opponent 7-4.
In the second set, the Ukrainian did not relinquish the initiative. The key moment was a break in the fifth game, after which Elina confidently closed out the match on her own serve—6-4. Overall, the contest lasted 1 hour and 29 minutes.
Historical result and next opponent
By reaching the quarterfinals, Svitolina has repeated her personal best result at the Washington tournament. She had previously reached this stage on these courts in 2023, where she lost to Jessica Pegula. In the fight for a spot in the semifinals of the tournament with a prize fund of $1.63 million, Svitolina will face the Filipino Alexandra Eala (WTA 28). In June, at the grass court event in Berlin, Elina lost to this opponent in two sets—3-6, 4-6.
Thus, the upcoming match promises to be difficult, but Svitolina has every chance to get revenge and continue her fight for the title.
