Former champion Ana Ivanovic stormed into the quarterfinals of the 2015 French Open with a tough three-set win over Ekaterina Makarova. She will look to extend her winning streak to five matches when she squares off with Elina Svitolina in what is surely a mouth-watering clash.
Read on below for an in-depth breakdown of this blockbuster matchup. You can also check out the men’s side of the draw with our quarterfinal preview of Nishikori vs. Tsonga.
Ana Ivanovic’s quest for a second French Open crown is still very much alive after a nervy 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 win over Ekaterina Makarova in the fourth round on Sunday. With the victory, Ivanovic booked a place in the quarterfinals for the first time since winning the title back in 2008.
[sc:Other240banner ]Playing on Court Suzanne Lenglen, Ivanovic displayed the aggressiveness that made her one of the most feared players in the women’s game before. She outhit Makarova in the winners department, 30-19. In this tournament thus far, Ivanovic is averaging a whopping 29 winners per match. She also added four aces to her tournament tally of 22 to overtake Serena Williams at the top of the free-points table.
Waiting in the next round for Ivanovic is Elina Svitolina. The 27-year-old has fared extremely well in her past meetings with Svitolina, winning all of their six previous matches. In their last meeting in Madrid a month ago, Ivanovic breezed past the Ukrainian in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. That was just their second meeting on clay with the Serbian owning a 2-0 advantage on the slow surface.
For Ivanovic to extend her dominance against Svitolina, she needs to continue her excellent return play. She won 44% of her receiving points against Makarova with Ivanovic converting five of her nine break point opportunities in the fourth round.
Elina Svitolina barged into the quarterfinals of the 2015 French Open with a 6-2, 7-6 (9) win over local hope Alize Cornet. It was a fantastic performance from Svitolina who needed one and hour and 54 minutes to record the straight-sets victory. With the win, Svitolina advanced to a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time in her career.
Things are bound to get tougher, though, for Svitolina as standing in her way in the next round is Ana Ivanovic. Svitolina is 0-6 lifetime against Ivanovic. In those six meetings, the Ukrainian has only won just a single set.
For Svitolina to record the massive upset this coming Tuesday, she needs to continue her excellent return play and put pressure on Ivanovic’s serve. Svitolina won 58% of her receiving points against Cornet with the 20-year-old converting seven of her 14 break point chances. In this tournament thus far, Svitolina has converted 26 of her 51 break point opportunities for an incredible 51% success rate.
She will be licking her chops at the prospect of facing an Ivanovic serve that was somewhat shaky in the round of 16. Sharapova put just 58% of her first serves in play against Makarova in the previous round.
Svitolina is 8-2 in her last 10 matches.
Writer’s Prediction
Ivanovic (-240) beats Svitolina in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.
