WASHINGTON: Ukraine's Elina Svitolina continued her dominance of Daria Kasatkina, taking her career record over the Russian to 8-0 with a 6-2, 6-2 victory on Wednesday in the WTA hardcourt tournament in Washington.
Unseeded Svitolina's second victory over her fifth-seeded Russian rival saw her into the quarterfinals, where she'll face either top-seeded American Jessica Pegula or lucky loser Peyton Stearns.
"I just try to fight each time I play Dasha," said Svitolina, who also beat Kasatkina in straight sets in the fourth round at Roland Garros this year.
"She's a tough opponent to face, and each time I try to play just one extra ball over the net, to take and dictate the game. I'm really happy I won the match today."
Svitolina, playing her eighth tournament since returning from maternity leave, belted 29 groundstroke winners, including 22 on her forehand.
She saved all 10 break points she faced, nine of them coming in just two games — her gritty hold to claim the opening set and a marathon game for a 5-1 lead in the second.
When the match ended, Svitolina stuck to her policy of declining to shake her Russian opponent's hand, although at Roland Garros she commended Kasatkina for speaking out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
MURRAY BEATS NAKAJIMA
In men's ATP tournament, Andy Murray held firm in a 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 victory over Brandon Nakashima, the British great's first match since an epic second-round exit at Wimbledon.
The 36-year-old Scot, ranked 44th in the world, saved all six break points he faced against the 70th-ranked American to reach the third round.
That included one in the final game, when a double fault left Murray down 30-40.
He responded with a deft, angled forehand drop shot to end a long rally and followed up with a service winner before closing out the contest with a booming forehand winner.
"It got really tense toward the end," Murray said, thanking a vocal crowd for their support. "The adrenaline, butterflies, nerves, that makes you feel alive. I still enjoy that."
Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray admitted last month he didn't know if he'd be back at Wimbledon again after falling in five sets to world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round.
He hasn't made the second week of a Grand Slam since reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 2017 as two hip surgeries threatened to end his career.
His first match win in Washington since 2018 showed he's still relishing the fight.
He trailed 5-2 in the first-set tiebreaker, winning five straight points to claim the set.
He broke Nakashima to open the second set and held on from there.
"The courts and the balls are extremely slow here, so you're having to work really hard in all of the games, it's not easy to finish points," Murray said. "It was a good one to get through."
Murray, who had a first-round bye, next faces top-seeded Taylor Fritz or fellow American Zachary Svajda.
In other matches on Wednesday, Japan's Yosuke Watanuki shocked third-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-6 (12/10), 7-6 (7/3) and 11th-seeded Wimbledon quarter-finalist Christopher Eubanks beat Japan's Sho Shimabukuro 6-3, 6-4.
At 12th in the world, Auger-Aliassime is the highest-ranked player the 99th-ranked Watanuki has beaten. — AFP
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