Rome: Elina Svitolina underlined her status as a top favourite for the French Open by sweeping world No. 1 Simona Halep aside 6-0, 6-4 to successfully defend her Italian Open crown on Sunday.
In a repeat of last year’s final at the Foro Italico, Ukrainian Svitolina, seeded fourth, was up against Halep a day after the Romanian top seed had ousted Russian Maria Sharapova.
But Halep’s hopes of overturning last year’s defeat to the 23-year-old Svitolina quickly evaporated in a completely one-sided encounter that saw the Romanian fail to produce a real challenge.
Svitolina has now successfully defended three tournament titles in her career and has won her last eight finals.
Just like in last year’s final, Halep appeared bothered by an injury. The top-ranked Romanian called a trainer onto the court for an apparent back problem while trailing 2-3 in the second set then exited the court for treatment under a medical timeout.
“I was a little bit too stiff with my body and I couldn’t stay in the rallies,” Halep said. “The muscles were stiff. I couldn’t run.”
Last year, Halep rolled her ankle in the final and lost a set lead to Svitolina.
This time, Svitolina didn’t face a single break point in a match that lasted just 67 minutes.
“It’s amazing that I could come and defend my title here,” Svitolina said. “It’s really something very, very special for me.”
Halep said her physical problems were the result of a long three-set win over Maria Sharapova in the semi-finals a day earlier. “Every time I play against Sharapova, the ball is coming very flat and I bend down a lot,” Halep said.
The fourth-ranked Svitolina became the first woman to defend her title at the Foro Italico since Serena Williams accomplished the feat in 2013 and 2014. The Ukrainian picked up a winner’s check of 507,000 euros (nearly $600,000) for her 12th career title.
Svitolina improved to 4-2 in her career against Halep, who had already secured the No. 1 ranking for another week by reaching the semi-finals.
“She deserved to win for sure,” Halep said. “She didn’t miss. I missed.”
