Ukraine's top seed Elina Svitolina is the only Ukrainian to reach the round of 16 of the WTA 1000 tournament in Indian Wells. In the third round match, the Ukrainian defeated American Ashlyn Kruger in straight sets.
Two Ukrainians made it to the third round of the Indian Wells tournament: Elina Svitolina and Marta Kostyuk. While Dayana Yastremska lost to Filipino tennis player Alexandra Eali.
Svitolina faced American Ashlyn Kruger in the round of 32. This was the second head-to-head meeting for the tennis players, with the first match being played at last year's 1,000th tournament in Indian Wells, where Svitolina won in three sets.
How did the match between Elina Svitolina and Ashlyn Kruger go?
- Kruger started the first set more actively, winning the first two games. Svitolina leveled the match, making the score 2:2. With the score tied, the tennis players exchanged games, but at the end of the set Svitolina was able to seize the initiative, ending the set with a 6:4 victory.
- In the decisive second set, the tennis players again started by exchanging games until the score was 2:2. The starting point was the fifth game, which Svitolina won on the American's serve. After that, the Ukrainian made a breakthrough, winning three more games, ending the match with a 6:2 victory.
Marta Kostyuk faced world number three Yelena Rybakina from Kazakhstan in the third round of the tournament. The round of 16 match ended with the Kazakh player winning in straight sets, with Rybakina winning both times with the same score — 6:4.
WTA 1000 Indian Wells. Third round
- Ashlyn Kruger (USA) — Elina Svitolina (Ukraine, 9) 0:2 (4:6, 2:6)
- Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan, 3) — Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine, 28) 2:0 (6:4, 6:4)
Thus, Svitolina will become the only Ukrainian tennis player in the 1/8 finals of the American grand slam. At this stage, the first racket of Ukraine will meet with the Czech Katerina Siniakova, who defeated the “neutral” Mirra Andreeva in the 1/16 finals.
Svitolina reached the top 16 of the WTA 1000 tournament in Indian Wells for the sixth time. Before that, the Ukrainian had only reached the round of 16 twice: at last year's tournament she defeated Jessica Pegula from the United States, and in 2019 she defeated another Czech tennis player, Marketa Vondrousova.
The round of 16 match of the WTA 1000 tournament in Indian Wells between Svitolina and Siniakova is scheduled for Wednesday, March 11.