Elina Svitolina was all business today against Jule Niemeier and as a reward the 2023 Wimbledon semifinalist will get a crack at two-time Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur in her next match.
Just moments ago, No. 21 seed Svitolina completed a 6-3 6-4 win over 2022 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Jule Niemeier to make a strong start at The Championships for a second consecutive year.
Throughout the entire match, Niemeier was the more aggressive one but Svitolina was playing very balanced tennis and her victory was never a doubt despite the Ukrainian having 15 winners compared to Niemeier's 26. But in the unforced errors department, Svitolina had just four while Niemeier had a stunning 34.
On Saturday, Svitolina will return to the court to meet No. 10 seed Jabeur, who saw off 161st-ranked Robin Montgomery 6-1 7-5.
When Svitolina takes on Jabeur, she will be looking to improve to 4-1 in her head-to-head against the Tunisian. But also, Svitolina will be hoping to prevent Jabeur from reaching her third consecutive Wimbledon final.
How Svitolina defeated Niemeier?
It didn't take long before Svitolina got the first break of the match, but just after breaking Niemeier in the second game, the Ukrainian got broken back in the third game.
Through the first six games of the opener, the two players were leveled to three games apiece. Then, the key moment of the match happens as Svitolina puts in another gear - claims two breaks in a row and wins five games in a row - and goes 6-3 2-0 up.
In the third game, Niemeier saved a break point to avoid going down by a double break but it still happened four games later after Svitolina earned her second break of the set to open a 5-2 lead.
Serving for the match, Svitolina was a bit tense and Niemeier used it to get one break back. But failing to serve out for the match in her first attempt didn't impact the Ukrainian, who closed out the match in the 10th game after converting her third match point.
Against Jabeur, Svitolina will be hoping for another great performance.
