The 21-year-old Ukrainian overcame a set down and rain interruptions to beat Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 7-5 in the final at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club (KLGCC) on Sunday.
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Bouchard led 4-2 in the second set of her finals match against Svitolina but lost the last four games of the set and called for the trainer before the start of the third set.
The match began at 5 a.m. ET, but several rain delays didn’t see championship point until more than six hours later.
There were no upsets in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, as Eugenie Bouchard and Elina Svitolina secured semi-final victories. I couldn’t attack her in the first serve, she was an fantastic server. Her latest achievement has shot her up to her career-best ranking of 14th in the new WTA rankings released on Monday. That was the year she reached semi-finals at the Australian Open and French Open before making it to the Wimbledon final, where she lost to Petra Kvitova.
In the ensuing tie-break, Bouchard once again fought back after trailing initially and grabbed the opening set 7-6(5).
The Canadian, who had endured a miserable 2015 season, had been showing signs of resurgence right from January.
“I was also struggling with my energy levels, especially towards the end of the match”.
The former World No. 5 Bouchard came within sniffing distance of clinching her second career title as she had an opportunity to serve out the match at 5-4.
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“I think I was more solid and consistent than her today”.
