Defending champion Elina Svitolina continued her dominance over world number two Karolina Pliskova with a straight-sets victory at the WTA Finals in China on Monday.
Opening Purple Group, the eighth seed started her title defence impressively with a 7-6 (14/12), 6-4 win in one hour and 53 minutes at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre. It was Svitolina's fourth straight victory over a misfiring Pliskova who had 42 unforced errors.
"I was trying to be ready for her big serve and then take on the second serve," Svitolina said after the match. "The surface is a little bit slow and I had more ti... it benefited my return."