On the second day of exhibition play on the grass courts of the Bett1 Aces tournament in Berlin, Elina Svitolina and Petra Kvitova advanced to Wednesday’s final in straight sets.
As our photographer Jimmie48 witnessed on site, it was a lovely sunny day at the Steffi Graf Stadium and the tennis atmosphere felt as close to normal as 2020’s coronavirus pandemic has allowed in months.
In the first of the two women’s matches contested on Tuesday, Ukrainian world No.5 Elina Svitolina defeated 43rd-ranked Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 7-6(2) 6-3.
During her press conference, Svitolina praised the level of hygiene and health protocols at the Bett1 Aces, saying how players are diligent about not wandering around the city, just sticking to their hotel and tournament site.
Now that the WTA season is finally resuming on August 3rd and we’ll definitely have the US Open, Svitolina is revealing that she doesn’t plan to play in New York, rather, she aims to end her coronavirus tennis drought at the Mutua Madrid Open, scheduled to take place in mid-September this year.
Unlike Kvitova, who launched the NikeCourt Wimbledon collection this week in Berlin, Svitolina opted for looks intended for Roland Garros — the Nike Summer Sleeveless Top, featuring pleats on the shoulders that create an illusion of pulled-up sleeves and a claycourt tennis graphic printed on the front, and the striped Nike Summer Slam Skirt with multi-tier, asymmetrical pleats.
In the second semifinal contested on grass courts of this exhibition tournament, Petra Kvitova beat Kiki Bertens 6-3 6-2. The two had practiced together earlier this week.
After tomorrow’s final between Svitolina and Kvitova, the second stage of this unique event will be held on a hard court at Berlin’s Tempelhof Hangar from July 17th to July 19th.
