REVEALED! Elina Svitolina’s potential path to claim her maiden Australian Open title

Former World No. 3 Elina Svitolina had a mixed 2021. While the Ukrainian won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, her poor patches of form meant she dropped out of the top 10 in the rankings. However, following a resurgent run after her successful Olympics campaign, the 27-year-old won her 16^th WTA title in the form of the Chicago Women’s Open. Svitolina hasn’t had a good start to her new season, having been defeated at the round of 32 stages of both the Adelaide International and the Adelaide International 2 by lesser-ranked opponents.

The Ukrainian would take on Fiona Ferro in the first round in a match that shouldn’t cause the World No. 16 much problem and would provide a good start in the tournament. Svitolina would then meet 3-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist Yulia Putintseva in the second round of the tournament.

In the third round, the difficulty is ramped up a bit as the Ukrainian faces former World No.1 Victoria Azarenka, who is seeded 24^th in the tournament. This would also be Elina Svitolina’s first seeded opponent in the tournament.

Svitolina to face Krejcikova in the fourth round!

If Svitolina does get through Round 3, the difficulty is set to increase manifolds in the fourth round as one of the favourites for the tournament Barbora Krejcikova would be awaiting her. The 4^th seed would undoubtedly be a tough opponent and would have aspirations of reaching deep into the tournament herself.

ELINA SVITOLINA #svitolina #practice #AustralianOpen2022 ( Getty ) pic.twitter.com/MzaU4Ofo8R

— Phil (@tennis_phil) January 14, 2022

If Svitolina somehow manages to get through the 4^th round, she’ll have no respite as she’ll again have another one of the tournament favourites awaiting her in the form of Paula Badosa. The Ukrainian would have to be top-notch to challenge Paula Badosa, whose career trajectory has been slowly rising up.

World No.1 Barty awaits Svitolina in the semi-finals

The test will just keep getting harder and harder as after such grueling previous rounds, the 27-year-old would then have to face Ashleigh Barty in the semi-finals after coming through the previous rounds. Despite facing some really tough opponents in the previous rounds, the Aussie would be by far her most difficult not only due to her stature in the game, but also due to the home support which would fervently be behind her.

Final: Svitolina vs Sabalenka

In the finals, Elina Svitolina would be up against 2^nd seed Aryna Sabalenka, who is coming off a very good 2021. Despite being a tough match, the Spaniard would be confident in the match having defeated arguably the best player in Ashleigh Barty to reach this far.

Elina Svitolina’s path to the 2022 Australian Open title (based on seedings):

• R1: Fiona Ferro

• R2: Yulia Putintseva

• R3: Victoria Azarenka

• R4: Barbora Krejcikova

• QF: Paula Badosa

• SF: Ashleigh Barty

• F: Aryna Sabalenka

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