Svitolina defeats Van Uytanck in Wimbledon opener

The world-fifth-ranked, Elina Svitolina, was made to play hard in her Wimbledon opener on Wednesday as she sealed a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Belgian, Alison Van Uytanck. The pair traded breaks at the start of their second career meeting before Svitolina gained the upper hand following a tough clash to set herself in a winning position by 4-2, and the third seed held off a late fightback to claim the first set.

Alison Van Uytanck mixed up her shots along with rifled drives and delicate drops as she took every chance to approach the net to break Svitolina for a 3-1 lead in the second set before levelling the contest at one set apiece. Both Svitolina and Uytanck wobbled on serve before 2019 semi-finalist Svitolina rediscovered her rhythm in the decider on Court One to close out the victory.

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In the second round, the 26-year-old faces Poland’s Magda Linette who rallied from a setdown to defeat American teenager Amanda Anisimova by 2-6, 6-3, 6-1. Van Uytanck’s ranking climbed as high as number 47 in 2020 and she remains one of the Tour’s dangerous women. Svitolina went from a first-serve percentage of 81% to one of 50% rattled by Belgian Alison Van Uytanck’s refusal to concede an inch. Svitolina stayed strong and celebrated by blowing kisses at the crowd.