Her ultimate motivation came from the announcement of the finalists’ names prior to the actual finals match. In a post-match press conference after her back-to-back win of the 2018 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships title (the tournament was held on February 19-24), Elina Svitolina explained: “When they announced our names, they were saying that Justine [Henin] and Venus [Williams] are the only ones who defended their titles, I was like, ‘Okay, c’mon, you have to do this.’ It really motivated me.”
The WTA’s fourth-ranked player and tournament top seed went on to demolish Russia’s unseated Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 6-0 in a short and sweet final match. Svitolina showed her strength with an on-the-run, backhand cross-court shot in the fourth game and a forehand down the line in the seventh.
“It’s amazing to win here again,” the 23-year-old said. “Even being the defending champion is amazing. I was just trying to hit the ball onto the court and make her run today. At the end I’m very happy how I played, with this whole week, actually.”
Having won her two previous meetings with Kasatkina, Svitolina easily dominated the early going and went on to seal a break of serve in the fifth game. Kasatkina, ranked 24th in the world, saved three set points, but was not consistent with her ground strokes, and Svitolina quickly wrapped up the first set.
The momentum with her, Svitolina produced flawless tennis in the second set, recording three more breaks of serve and 18 winners to claim the victory in a mere 70 minutes.
This was the 11th singles title for Svitolina, who had won a tour-high five titles in 2017 and added Brisbane to the list earlier in 2018. She sits 14-2 for the year.
Svitolina required more than two hours to overcome Qiang Wang of China 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals. The Ukrainian hit 53 unforced errors against 26 from her opponent, but also produced 38 winners and saved nine of 11 break points.
Svitolina brushed aside Japan’s Naomi Osaka 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, ending a run of two straight losses to Osaka, No. 48 in the rankings. She took control with a 5-0 lead in the first set, then noticeably lost her intensity, falling behind 4-1 in the second set, before reeling it back in and winning five consecutive games.
Her mastery over Angelique Kerber continued in the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-3 victory, extending her head-to-head against the two-time Grand Slam champion to 5-0. Svitolina came from a break down in the second set, winning four straight games from 2-1 down to take command. She was the first to settle down in the opening set, posting an easy hold in the sixth game to halt a string of five straight breaks to begin the match.
Her check for winning the tournament this year was for $651,347. It was the second time she has returned to a tourney and retained the trophy. Baku was the first.
“Each tournament, the ones that I won, brought something really special into my game,” she said. “This title particularly, handling the pressure, playing the way I had to play on court. I’m happy that I’m moving in the right direction.”
That direction could be right to the top of the WTA’s rankings.