Svitolina beats Stephens for WTA Finals crown

Elina Svitolina capped a dream week by beating Sloane Stephens to win the WTA Finals – the biggest title of her career.

The Ukrainian went undefeated in five matches in Singapore, recovering to beat Stephens 3-6 6-2 6-2 in almost two-and-a-half hours of brutally physical tennis.

The victory sees Svitolina end the season at world No.4 and adds to a title haul in 2018 that also includes Brisbane, Dubai and Rome.

She has won her past nine finals.

“Definitely just a very special moment for me. I played really great tennis this week. Singapore is gonna stay for a very long time in my heart,” Svitolina said during the trophy presentation.

“It’s gonna bring lots of confidence and I finish season on a high note, so I’m very pleased with the performance.”

.@ElinaSvitolina’s incredible road to the biggest title of her career @WTAFinalsSG:

d. Kvitova 63 63
d. Pliskova 63 26 63
d. Wozniacki 57 75 63
d. Bertens 75 67(5) 64
d. Stephens 36 62 63

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) October 28, 2018

It was especially impressive give the hold out of which she had to dig herself.

She went down 3-0 in the first set and was a point away from trailing 5-1; despite Svitolina settling into the contest and extending the opening set for 46 minutes, Stephens was the player in control.

The American out-steadied the Ukrainian in the longer rallies and produced better depth and pace on her shots to control the contest.

But there was a discernible swing in momentum in the fourth game of the second set, when a succession of Stephens groundstrokes found the net. It helped Svitolina break for the first time for a 3-1 lead, and she grew in confidence.

The pair traded breaks until Svitolina held in the seventh game from 0-30 down to stretch her lead to 5-2.

That formed part of a glorious run of six unanswered games for Svitolina, who moved ahead 3-0 in the third. Although many of the games were close – the second and third games of the final set produced lung-busting rallies and lasted nearly 10 minutes each – it was Svitolina who thrived as the match became ever more physical and attritional.

After a coaching time-out, Stephens returned to the court with a clearer vision, adding sting to her shots and ripping though the next two games to quickly close the gap to 2-3.

.@SloaneStephens storms back! #WTAFinalsSG pic.twitter.com/iedFAPgYFU

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) October 28, 2018

But fatigued errors returned to her game – she would finish with 48 unforced errors all up, to Svitolina’s 28 – while the Ukrainian appeared, counter-intuitively, to be gaining in strength.

She fired a backhand passing shot winner to secure a 5-2 lead and celebrated with an animated fist-pump.

Stephens then committed four unforced errors in the final game to help Svitolina to victory.

“Congratulations to Elina. Obviously throughout the year we’ve played a lot and we practice and everything and I just want to say it’s a pleasure to compete against you,” Stephens said during the presentation.

“You’re a great person, great player and even better competitor so congratulations for this week – you deserve it.

“(I’m) super excited and happy to finish the year off the way that I did. Obviously not the way I wanted to finish, but I worked really hard to get here and I can be really proud of my result today.”

WTA
FINALS
CHAMPION@ElinaSvitolina ???? pic.twitter.com/BOnQ6Mz6Pq

— Wilson Tennis (@WilsonTennis) October 28, 2018

Svitolina had won just two of her most recent six matches coming into the WTA Finals, and only secured her qualification at the eight-player event when Kiki Bertens fell early in Moscow in the week before the tournament.

Bertens then took her place in the field when world No.1 Simona Halep withdrew.