Elina Svitolina OUSTED, 2019 Italian Open field now wide open

Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina has been knocked out of the 2019 Italian Open. She falls to former world number one Victoria Azarenka.

Action in both men’s and women’s singles is underway at the 2019 Italian Open and the women’s field is now without its defending champion in Elina Svitolina. The Ukrainian tennis star faced a very tough opening round matchup. Taking on former world number one Victoria Azarenka in the round of 32, the two-time defending champion was in for a challenge.

A strong first set made it seem as though Svitolina was on her way toward yet another title-run in Rome. Not so fast though. Vika rallied, winning the second and third sets. She takes the match over the defending champion, going 4-6 6-1 7-5.

Svitolina was the fifth seed this year in Rome. The previous two year, she defeated Romanian tennis star Simona Halep in the finals. With her out of the mix though, the field is wide open on the women’s singles side of the action.

The loss in Rome makes it three straight tournaments where Svitolina has been knocked out during her opener. She will need to gather herself and bounce back from the early exit quickly. In the meantime, action rolls on at the Italian Open.

This year’s top seed is Naomi Osaka. She takes on Dominika Cibulková who is coming off of a win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich. The Australian Open champion is joined by several other top players in women’s singles tennis though. Also in action will be the likes of Kiki Bertens, Garbine Muguruza, Danielle Collins, Sloane Stephens, and Petra Kvitova among others.

Halep, who is this year’s third seed in the women’s singles field, could be one of (if not the) top contenders with Elina Svitolina gone. Check back to see how all of the early round action shakes out. Elsewhere in Rome, Novak Djokovic and other top players take to the courts in men’s singles tomorrow. Read more about how he should fare here.