Looking stunning in her beige Nike Slam Melbourne Tank and Skirt, fifth seed Elina Svitolina advanced to the third round of the 2021 Australian Open with a straightforward 6-4 6-3 win over Coco Gauff. Experience made the difference here, as the 16-year-old Gauff got tight in crucial moments.
We can say that Gauff was overall a better player in her Thursday’s second-round match, but Svitolina took charge when it counted, while the youngest player in this year’s main draw got nervous and made unforced errors.
In the first set, Gauff was more confident than Svitolina in service games, but at 5-4 the Ukrainian world No.5 earned her first two break points, that were set points at the same time, and converted her second one when Gauff hit a backhand wide.
In the second set, Gauff was again the first to earn break points, but she converted none of the three, while Svitolina converted her first and only one to go 5-3 up thanks to Gauff’s unforced error.
Svitolina’s next opponent will be seed No.26 Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan, who defeated Alison Van Uytvanck 6-4 1-6 6-2 in the second round.
I thought both women played well and put on a great display. Thats the best I have seen Coco play and Elina managed the situation well.
Andy, Coco played well, but she underperformed in crucial moments, while Elina rose her level and her experience prevailed. Overall, Coco was probably a slightly better player in this match, if we disregard her lows in the most important points.
Elina’s strength is her consistency and retireval skills. She is not a very exciting player to watch compared to Gauff but consistency can get you into the top ten and keep you there – see Wozniacki, Halep as well.
CLT, consistency can also win you GS titles. When it comes to Gauff, she’s really interesting to watch. It’s amazing that she’s only 16.