World no.131 Nadia Podoroska Thrashes Elina Svitolina from Quarter-Finals of French Open 2020

The quarter-finals of the French Open 2020 kicked off today. World No.5, Elina Svitolina, and the Argentine, Nadia Podoroska, faced off in a much-anticipated battle.

In yet another upset at the Roland Garros, World No.131 Podoroska conquered the 3-time French Open Quarter-finalist, Svitolina. The final scoreline read 6-2, 6-4 in Podoroska’s favor.

Svitolina and Podoroska were facing each other for the first time. The Ukrainian was aiming for her first semi-final in the French Open. But, Podoroska certainly didn’t want to lose as she was the first Argentine woman to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam in 16 years. Her determination was visible throughout the game as she stunned the No.3 seed of the tournament.

Set-1: A big upset for Elina Svitolina as the Argentine broke 4 times

Serving first, it was Podoroska who won the first point. But, the 23-year-old lost the momentum mid-way and committed too many unforced errors.

Svitolina capitalized on this and broke in the very first game of the match. However, something phenomenal followed the first set debacle. The Argentine struck back and broke twice in the next three games through some powerful forehand winners.

Podoroska saved 3 break-points in the 4th game, derailing Svitolina’s momentum. At the end of this game, Podoroska led 3-1.

She won the next game, making the margin wider. Podoroska was displaying exceptional gameplay, and the World No.5 was clueless. She again broke in the 6th game and was now just one game away. The scoreline was 5-1 with Svitolina trailing.

However, Svitolina was not ready to give up yet. She broke again in the 7th game, making the scoreline 5-2. But, it was already too late. The young Podoroska broke for the 4th time in the 8th game, winning the 35-minute long set 6-2.

Set-2: A close set  won by Nadia Podoroska

Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska in action during her quarter-final match against Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina REUTERS/Gonzalo FuentesThings were becoming really tough for the No.3 seeded Svitolina. Serving first again, the Argentine won the first point of the set. Her eyes proved how badly she wanted to win the game.

She won 4 back-to-back points to take the lead. But, Svitolina was not done yet. She won the first game on her serve in the subsequent game to equalize the scoreline at 1-1. The Ukrainian broke again in the next game to take the lead at 2-1.

In the next game, the Argentine broke and leveled the scoreline at 2-2. It was turning out to be an exciting set.

Svitolina regained her momentum and broke again in the 5th game to take the lead. It was 3-2 at this stage. But, the Argentine, yet again, 6th time in the match to be precise, equalized the scoreline at 3-3. Nobody was ready to give up easily. It was going neck-to-neck.

Svitolina broke for the third time in the set and extended her lead to 4-3 after the end of the 7th game. The next game was no different. However, after conceding 3 break-points, Svitolina saved all 3 of them. She couldn’t save the fourth one after the deuce and Podoroska leveled it again at 4-4.

The difference came in the 9th game as Podoroska won it. The scoreline was 5-4 with the Argentine leading.

She was just one game away from sealing a spot at the semi-finals of Roland Garros 2020. She won the first breaking point but was saved by the World No.2.

The Ukrainian saved the second match-point too. But, she could not hold Podoroska for too long as she won it on the third Match-point, winning the match 6-2, 6-4. With this win, she also became the first qualifier to enter the semi-finals of the French Open 2020.