2015 was a huge year for 20 year-old Elina Svitolina. How would she respond to a huge 2014? Her 2014 year included a title in Baku, a Round of 16 in Miami, a Quarterfinals appearance in Cincinnati, and she also made the Semifinals in Nuremberg, Wuhan, and Osaka. Svitolina could either sink with the pressure of a significant ranking points or swim and thrive on the WTA Tour. I think it's safe to say that Svitolina is swimming at the moment.
2015 got off to a spectacular spot for Svitolina as she made the Semifinals of Brisbane. I knew Elina was in for a special year when I watched her match against Angelique Kerber in the Quarterfinals. Elina was calm, cool, and collected, and was certainly not intimidated by the moment. She repelled almost anything Kerber through at her, and held her nerve to win in a tight three-setter. And although her run came to an end in the next round against Maria Sharapova, Svitolina showed that she was not going to slip into mediocrity in the new year.
While a Third Round appearance at the Australian Open a few weeks later could be seen as an average tournament for Svitolina, it was the way she played those three matches that impressed me most. In the first two rounds of the tournament, Svitolina acted as a seasoned veteran, beating both of her lower-ranked opponents in straight sets to play tournament-champion Serena Williams in the Third Round. Svitolina ended up being one of only two players to take a set off of Williams in that tournament, taking the first set 6-4. And while Elina would only win two games for the rest of the match, the fact that she could win a set against Serena showed her potential.
Svitolina's next good run of play occurred from Indian Wells till Marrakech. In Indian Wells, Elina made the Round of 16. However, it was her straight-set win over an in-form Lucie Safarova (won Doha a couple weeks before) that, once again, showed the world that Elina would be a tough out for whoever played her. The following month in Bogota, Svitolina made the Semifinals, showing once again that she can consistently win on the WTA Tour. Then, a couple weeks later, she won another title, this time in Marrakech, a clay court event. In the five matches she played in that tournament, Elina only lost one set and cruised to the title. Svitolina beat Timea Babos in the Final in straight sets to once again prove she wasn't a rising force for the rest of the WTA, she was a force that had arrived.
Svitolina's latest triumph has occurred at the French Open. She is currently in the Quarterfinals and is playing unbelievable tennis. The most impressive part of Elina's run is her maturity (and the composure that stems from that maturity). In two of Svitolina's first four matches, she has been pushed deep into a third set. But, each time, she came through. In the Second Round, Svitolina beat Yulia Putintseva 9-7 in the third set, while in the Third Round, Elina beat Annika Beck 6-4 in the third set. Even in the Round of 16, with Svitolina losing serve when serving for the match twice and wasting three match point in the tiebreak, when Cornet had a set point, Svitolina refused to let that set slip away. And when she let two more match points get away from her, Elina dug in and finally closed the match on her sixth match point. Svitolina had made her first Grand Slam Quarterfinals appearance ever against Ana Ivanovic.
However, it surely seems like it won't be her last Grand Slam Quarterfinals appearance ever. Elina Svitolina has definitely proved that she is here to stay. Who knows? A week from today, she could be a Grand Slam champion.
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