Hungary’s Anna Bondar, ranked No. 97 in the world, took advantage of shaky play by No. 12 Elina Svitolina and upset the Ukrainian, 6-2, 6-4 in the first round of the U.S. Open on Monday evening.
Svitolina, who gave birth to a daughter in the spring of 2022, returned to the tour a year later and steadily improved her ranking. She had a solid clay season, winning a WTA 250 title in Rouen, France and advancing to the quarterfinals of the French Open, where she lost to Iga Swiatek.
But, after winning three rounds on the hard courts in Montreal, she fell in the quarters to Naomi Osaka and then lost in a first-round match to Barbora Krejcikova in Cincinnati.
Her struggles worsened against Bondar, as she committed 41 unforced errors and threw in eight double faults.
After saving five break points in the fourth game, Bondar broke in the fifth and again in the seventh games to capture the first set. Svitolina lost her third consecutive service game to open the second set and fell behind, 5-1. She did manage to rattle off three consecutive games, but the Hungarian won the final four points of the match to post the upset.
Bondar won 13 of 18 points at the net and converted four of her nine break point opportunities. Svitolina also had nine chances to break, but took advantage of only one.
Bondar will face Greece’s Maria Sakkari in the second round.
–Field Level Media
