Ukrainian Elina Svitolina defeated No.81 Anastasia Potapova, former Drottningens Pris-finalist in singles 2014 and DD-winner in the doubles the same year, in a very emotional win in the first round of the Abierto GNP Seguros.
Top seed and 2020 champion Svitolina won by 6-2, 6-1 over Russian Potapova, in a match which gained worldwide focus. Svitolina will now face Bulgarian qualifier Viktoriya Tomova in the second round.
– It’s a special one because of what we are going through right now in Ukraine, it’s terrifying, Svitolina said after the match.