Hailey Baptiste had a forgettable day in the R32 of the Italian Open against the world number 10 Elina Svitolina. The latter made light work of the American and breezed into the R16 with a 6-1, 6-2 victory. Svitolina broke her opponent’s serve four times and held her own to record a dominant victory. However, it was a casual rally that turned into a noteworthy incident in the first set as Baptiste accidentally smacked her rival on the court with a forehand.
The moment came during the first set when Svitolina came towards the net to return Baptiste’s drop shot. In reply, the latter hit a forehand straight at the Ukrainian, and it ended up hitting her face. Baptiste appeared to be very concerned and even apologized to her opponent, but Svitolina shrugged off any injury concerns thanks to her quick reflexes as she managed to react at the right time and resumed the game. The crowd applauded the pair for their spirit of the game and determination.
Baptiste, who arrived at the Italian Open after an impressive semifinal appearance in Madrid, proved to be no match for Svitolina. The Ukrainian just took 67 minutes to wrap up the match as she won 61 points out of 95. She especially dominated when it came to the second serve, winning 87% of the points. A dominant performance helped Svitolina avenge her third-round exit to Baptiste in the Miami Open a couple of months ago.
Svitolina had come into this match after defeating Noemi Basiletti 6-1, 6-3 in the R64. After a first-round elimination at the Madrid Masters, she needed momentum at the Italian Open, with this being her final preparation before Roland Garros. Having previously won the Italian Open title in 2017 and 2018, she aims for a third title.
Direct shot
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Svitolina improved her win-loss record to 23-7 for the season. She will be locking horns against lucky loser Nikola Bartunkova in the R16. Notably, the Czech reached the stage after knocking out Madison Keys 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 in the previous round.
On the other hand, it was agony for Baptiste, who had put in a solid performance in her first-round match against Simona Waltert and had won 6-7, 6-4, 6-4. She had seen a surge in the rankings following her impressive run at the Spanish capital and had jumped seven places to reach the 25th position. However, the early exit in Rome could see her rankings plummet.
A lights-out incident marred her clash with Waltert, but Baptiste managed to emerge victorious. But in the next round against Svitolina, her accidental forehand hit was the only talking point as her journey came to an end.
