Svitolina rallies to top Muchova, boost WTA Finals bid

Manila Times - Nov 12, 2026

LOS ANGELES — Elina Svitolina roared back from a set down to beat Karolina Muchova 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday to boost her bid to advance to the WTA Finals semi-finals at Indian Wells. Ukrainian veteran Svitolina lifted the WTA Finals trophy in 2018 but hadn't been back to the elite season-ending event since 2019. She got off to a rocky start against Muchova, who broke Svitolina three times in the opening set. Trailing 2-1 on serve in the second Svitolina found her range, winning five straight games to force a third set. "I was not happy with the first set," Svitolina said. "I didn't play as well. I just made some adjustments, tactical adjustments. "I tried just to go more for my shots because I played kind of with her game," she added. "She has an amazing variety of the shots with the slice, with the serve and volley. I had to stay away from that and try to find shorter balls earlier in the rally. "I think it helped me also to be more aggressive, because I was too passive in the first set," Svitolina said. Svitolina said she was able to channel her "angriness" that had been brewing since her straight sets loss to Mirra...

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