Madrid May 5 (IANS) Fourth seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine on Saturday started her run at the Madrid Open in an auspicious fashion defeating Frenchwoman Alize Cornet 6-2 6-2 in the first round.
During the 71-minute contest Svitolina managed to break her rival s serve five times earning her third win over the French player in their fifth encounter reports Efe news agency.
World No. 4 Svitolina is seeking her third title in 2018 and is to take on either Spain s Carla Suarez Navarro or the Czech Republic s Barbora Strycova.
The 23-year-old Svitolina who won the Brisbane International and the Dubai Tennis Championships earlier this year failed to advance beyond the second round in her four previous tournament appearances.
--IANS
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