Svitolina tops Shuai to claim Taiwan Open title

On Sunday, Elina Svitolina captured her fifth WTA title by sweeping aside Peng Shuai 6-3, 6-2 in Taipei City.

She had a tough opponent in a resurgent Shuai who came back from surgery to win her first WTA title (the Tianjin Open) last fall.

"She's always been really aggressive from the baseline," Svitolina said. "The change was in myself because when I played her in 2014, I physically [was] much worse, which is why she had the opportunity to get on top of my game.

"I changed a lot. I improved my serve, return, and baseline game. The difference came down more to me than her because I played more solid today."

The Ukranian fought back from an early break at the start of both sets to claim the trophy and a career-high ranking of No. 13. She spoke on a possible trip into the Top 10 for 2017.

"I'm No. 13 in the world, so you expect players higher in the rankings to be able to raise their level in tight situations. It happened today at a good moment, and I think I was trying to find this in myself," Svitolina said. "Some days, it doesn't work, but others, when you try again and again, it works in the end. I was very positive and tried to be in the moment, give everything that I had."

Of course, she was delighted to capture another title and thanked her fans for their support during the tournament.