Ekaterina Makarova made it to the fourth round of the 2015 US Open on Friday evening, defeating up-and-coming youngster Elina Svitolina in straight sets to do so - the final score reading 6-3 7-5 in the 13th seed's favour.
Makarova didn't start well, with Svitolina breaking in the opening game of the match, but she bounced back, winning four games in a row before going on to take the opening set by a double break.
She was quicker out of the blocks in the second, but the momentum soon shifted in the Ukrainian's favour as she looked to level the scores. The Russian struggled with a thigh injury too, which hindered her at times, but she was able to regain her focus to serve out a trickier second set and record victory.
Makarova makes up for slow start with dominant first set
This was the third meeting between these two this year, with Makarova having come out on top in both encounters, one in Sydney and one in Miami, in straight sets.
However, Svitolina was quick out of the blocks in New York today as she used her strong forehand to move her opponent around the court in the opening game before breaking on her second opportunity with just a few minutes played.
The 20-year-old couldn't consolidate this break with a hold of serve though, Makarova exploiting her poor second serve, which she won just seven of 30 points on during the evening, to get the match back on serve.
More of the same occurred for the remainder of the first set, with Makarova winning four consecutive games to earn herself a double break. Svitolina did start to find some rhythm on serve towards the end of the set, but it proved to be too little too late as her opponent prepared to serve it out.
The Russian was put under pressure in the process, with the Ukrainian taking the first two points of the game and seeing two chances to break, but Makarova started to attack the short balls more, coming towards the net to assert herself in points before winning the set from the back of the court, producing a strong forehand that Svitolina could only return into the net with 45 minutes gone.
Svitolina responds well in second set
Makarova took this momentum into the second set too, breaking immediately, as her opponent had done in the first. She almost replicated Svitolina’s downfall from that quick start too, gifting her three break points in the following game, but the 13th seed quickly made amends before taking it to deuce with a fierce ace. From here, she was composed and able to keep her lead.
The Russian was comfortably ahead by this single break for the opening few games of the set, but Svitolina, knowing that defeat was near if she didn’t react soon, raised her levels in the sixth game of the match.
Putting Makarova under sustained pressure as she served to stay ahead, Svitolina eventually capitalised on a sloppy shot from her opponent, which allowed her to play a strong forehand down the line that the Russian was unable to reach, her weight shifted the other way, getting the set back on serve.
Some strong serves followed from the 20-year-old, which had not been seen regularly in the match, before Makarova received on court medical attention for the bandaged up area of her right thigh, perhaps looking for some respite in a match of which the momentum was slowly turning against her.
However, this didn’t help her, with Svitolina continuing to play on the front foot and earning herself a set point, just five minutes short of an hour after she had surrendered the first set by a double break.
Makarova defended well to save this, the set tied at 5-5 as we neared a tiebreak, though, if the 13th seed could apply herself mentally and regain the dominance she had shown earlier in the match, she could wrap up the victory in two games time.
Strange end to match sees Makarova limp over the finish line
Winning the first point of Svitolina’s service game, she looked fired up to accept this challenge and, though she hit the following point long, some more precise and powerful exploitation of Svitolina’s second serve led to a break point, which she took willingly with some positive, attacking play.
Now serving for the match at 6-5 in the second set, Makarova showed some of the same nerves that occurred when she served for the first set, which allowed Svitolina to take the first point of the game.
A quick and convincing recovery saw her win the next three points, setting up two match points, however, the pressure showed once more as she committed a double fault, before stretching her injured leg out some more and hitting the next point several feet long, which took the game to deuce.
The pain proved to be more than just an excuse for the last two points as Makarova called the trainer and sat down at her chair, but she was refused treatment for what she claimed to be ‘cramping’ until the next changeover.
Yet, the match did not make it to another changeover as the 13th seed powered through the pain to take the victory, despite Svitolina seeing a break point amidst all the confusion.
It was an interesting end to the affair as, had the Ukrainian managed to take it to a third set, her opponent might not have even been able to finish the match as she continued to show signs that she was struggling.
Instead, Makarova is through to the fourth round of this year's US Open, where she will face France's Kristina Mladenovic.
Known for being a thorn in Simona Halep's side until the Romanian eventually defeated her earlier this summer, Mladenovic knocked out 30th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in round one and is yet to drop a set after her three matches so far.
Makarova boasts the same record though, and the two present an intriguing affair for the beginning of next week.