Svitolina clinched a victory in Bad Homburg and advanced to the quarterfinals

Elina Svitolina got off to a strong start at the WTA 500 tournament in Bad Homburg, Germany. The Ukrainian tennis player lost the first set but managed to turn the match around and secure a hard-fought victory over Lyudmila Samsonova.

Thanks to this victory, Svitolina will advance to the quarterfinals of the Bad Homburg tournament for the first time in her career. Her next opponent will be China’s Xin Yu Wang. The first set was a mixed bag for Elina. The Ukrainian got off to a strong start and quickly took a 3-1 lead. It seemed as though she was in control on the court, but toward the end of the set, Samsonova took the initiative.

After a strong start, Svitolina lost five games in a row and dropped the set 3–6. During the set, the Ukrainian player took a medical timeout. Her opponent also took a similar break. In the second set, Elina played a completely different game. She was much more consistent on her serve and began to force her opponent into errors more often.

Svitolina broke her opponent’s serve three times while saving six break points in the process. Samsonova managed to win just one game on the Ukrainian’s serve, when the score was already 5–2 in Elina’s favor. In the end, the second set ended with a 6–3 victory for the Ukrainian. The decisive set also got off to a rocky start. Svitolina immediately lost a game on her own serve and found herself playing catch-up.

However, it was right after that that the Ukrainian player produced the best stretch of the match. She won six games in a row and effectively left her opponent with no chance of getting back into the match. The end of the match was particularly impressive—Elina won eight of the last ten points. In the end, the Ukrainian tennis player secured a three-set victory—3–6, 6–3, 6–2.

This result is particularly significant for Svitolina. Last year, she was eliminated in the round of 16 in Bad Homburg, but this time she was able to take a step forward and advance to the quarterfinals of the local tournament for the first time. Another challenging match awaits the Ukrainian. She will face China’s Xin Yu Wang, ranked 52nd in the world, for a spot in the semifinals.

The tournament in Bad Homburg is the final major test before the start of Wimbledon 2026. The victory over Samsonova was a positive sign for Svitolina ahead of the season’s main grass-court tournament and once again demonstrated her ability to bounce back even after a poor start to a match. This was reported by Suspilne Sport. 

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