One of the game’s most in-form players will battle against the world number six in the second round of the #BNPParibasOpen as the quality of women’s tennis is reflected in the depth of the field present in Indian Wells. Sixth seed #ElinaSvitolina is set to battle against American local favourite #SofiaKenin and tennis fans would have their eyes on the first encounter between both players.
After some struggles towards the end of 2018, Svitolina ended the year in some style — rattling off five straight top-10 wins to lift the WTA Finals title in Singapore. Her start to 2019 was disrupted by a surprising opening-round loss to Aliaksandra Sasnovich in a repeat of the previous year’s final in Brisbane, with her confidence suffering a huge blow after such a thunderous end to the last season.
Nonetheless, the Ukrainian was able to reach just her third Major quarterfinal at the Australian Open, ousting various hard-hitting players including Madison Keys, to defend her 430 points earned from last year. However, she was unable to improve on her results as her run was stopped by eventual champion Naomi Osaka.
Amassing a decent 9-4 win-loss record this season, Svitolina reached back-to-back semifinals during the Middle East swings where points were up for grabs. The owner of the Billie Jean King trophy conquered nemesis Jelena Ostapenko to reach the last four in Doha, where she was stunned by Simona Halep despite owning a mighty lead in the decider.
Another heartbreaking loss came in Dubai where she stormed to the semifinals defeating Spaniards Carla Suarez Navarro and Garbine Muguruza, only to lose to eventual champion Belinda Bencic having led 5-3 in the final set and missed out on a golden opportunity to become the first woman to lift the Dubai trophy on three consecutive occasions.
Svitolina opted to compete in doubles in Indian Wells as well, although her journey with Victoria Azarenka was a short one as they were defeated in the opening round yesterday. Despite the loss, it would be a form of exposure for the Ukrainian who can utilize the match practice as a warm-up for this blockbuster clash.
Similarly, Kenin had a rather positive 2019 as well. She lifted her first career WTA title on her first attempt — charging towards the title at the Hobart International without losing a set in the process. As a player ranked 56, Kenin was handed a tough draw and had to defeat four higher-ranked opponents in succession to break new grounds in her career.
She extended then-world number one Simona Halep to three gruelling sets at the Australian Open, opening up a commanding 4-2 lead in the deciding set although her lack of experience backfired. A rough patch of results followed after her loss proved pivotal in USA’s 2-3 defeat to Australia before failing to convert three match points against Viktoria Kuzmova in Dubai.
Nonetheless, Kenin enters Indian Wells in great form especially after reaching her second WTA final of 2019 in Acapulco. Moving into the quarterfinals with both of her opponents being forced to retire, the American made full use of her chances and battled past Victoria Azarenka and Bianca Andreescu to make the final, being just the second player on tour (after Petra Kvitova) to reach multiple finals this year.
Being vanquished by Wang Yafan in the championship match, Kenin missed out on the golden opportunity to become the first player to lift multiple titles in 2019 although she quickly exacted revenge in the first round of Indian Wells when the tennis gods just decides to have some fun — pitting both of them against each other less than three days after their marathon clash.
This time, Kenin turned the tables and defied the odds; putting in an inspired performance to claim the confidence-boosting three-set win over the Chinese despite looking all over the place in the early stages of the match. Overcoming such a difficult opponent could well be the key to success for Kenin in her future endeavours — when she is not playing her best tennis, she is now able to figure out solutions to triumph as what a top player should do.
Can Svitolina steer her way to the win, or will Kenin produce the major upset? This is the type of matches the Ukrainian is expected to win — prevailing over the lower-ranked players especially with a similar playing style as her. Kenin has the ability to grind down her opponents and with the slow court conditions in Indian Wells, this match may well be a marathon battle.
Svitolina should come through this battle with her consistency and experience, although a Kenin victory would not be the biggest shock of the tournament.
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