Monterrey Open 2020: Elina Svitolina beats Arantxa Rus in straight sets

Elina Svitolina put up one of her most dominant performance of the season at the GNP Seguros Monterrey Open on Saturday night. The top seed blasted Dutch player Arantxa Rus to win 6-0, 6-1 at Estadio GNP Seguros at the Sierra Madre Tennis Club. The Ukrainian took just under an hour to advance to Sunday’s final.

Despite a slow start to her opening serve, Svitolina allowed just two points and held the opening game. Getting a break from Rus was another long task as the Dutch player refused to let the number one seed the easy road. She forced deuce, but after four breaks and three failed AD points, the 29-year-old folded to sit two games down. With the break in hand, she pressured Rus giving her just a point before taking a 3-0 stand.

Just when it looked as if Svitolina had things comfortably in hand, her 40-0 lead in the fourth game came under attack. Rus saved three break points and forced deuce to threaten a sea change in the pace. The 25-year-old answered with a focused counterattack that handed her the double break. The comfortable hold that Svitolina locked down made it easy to tackle the sixth as Rus had nothing to show in her service. It brought an end to the set in 25 minutes, with the Ukrainian well in charge. Svitolina used the first serve 11 of 17 times and scored points in nine of them. With the damage hitting Rus offensively, she was outscored 29-15 and the drubbing wasn’t over.

Svitolina cruised into the second set, painting the court with a strong service game. Rus wanted nothing more than to avoid the double bagel. Despite having to force deuce on serve, the Dutch star managed to save break point and win on her AD point chance. It didn’t bother Svitolina as she pressed on, holding serve in the third with no signs of issues. She consolidated the hold with a break in the fourth leading 3-1 before another service hold put her firmly in the driver's seat.

A solid performance from the No.1 seed 👊@ElinaSvitolina defeats Rus, 6-0, 6-1, @Abierto_GNP. pic.twitter.com/PeGypRwOKi

— WTA (@WTA) March 8, 2020

Rus tried to add another to her bottom line in the sixth but her opponent was in charge of things that gave her another double break on the night. She went on to conduct an easy finish in the seventh that closed the match in 50 minutes.

“It was an amazing match for me,” Svitolina said during her on-court interview. “I was very solid from the baseline and was serving really well. Hopefully, I can keep it up for the final as well.”

With the title close at hand, the world number seven would see if she has what it takes to defeat Czech dark horse Marie Bouzkova.