Former world No. 3 Elina Svitolina is set for a Rome round-of-16 blockbuster versus Aryna Sabalenka after handling the business against 23th-seeded Anna Kalinskaya.
On Sunday evening, No. 16 seed Svitolina ousted Kalinskaya 6-3 6-3, who was a quarterfinalist at this year’s Australian Open and also played a final at a WTA 1000 tournament in Dubai.
Going into the match, Kalinskaya definitely wasn’t expected to be an easy opponent for Svitolina but the Ukrainian routinely got the job done in just an hour and 13 minutes of play.
Now in the Rome round-of-16, Svitolina will meet No. 2 seed Sabalenka in a rematch of last year’s French Open quarterfinal. Heading into the match, Sabalenka – who beat Svitolina 6-4 6-4 at the French Open last year – owns a 2-1 head-to-head versus the Ukrainian.
While recent Madrid Open runner-up Sabalenka will enter the match as the favorite, Svitolina has started Rome playing great and with back-to-back straight-set wins.
How Svitolina beat Kalinskaya to set up a Sabalenka match?
Right from the start, Svitolina looked great as the former world No. 3 claimed an early break for a 3-0 lead. Up by a break, Svitolina never allowed Kalinskaya to even come close to…
