Darkness halts dramatic Bad Homburg clash between Elina Svitolina, Caroline Wozniacki

Fans at the Bad Homburg Open powered by Solarwatt were denied a dramatic conclusion to the evening encounter between Elina Svitolina and Caroline Wozniacki: darkness caused the match to be suspended with Svitolina leading, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 2-1.

Svitolina had just nabbed a break in the deciding set in the wake of a harrowing fall from Wozniacki, who won the opening set, when it was announced that the match would conclude on Center Court Tuesday.

Svitolina and Wozniacki, who faced off earlier this month for an exhibition match in Denmark, played five times in their respective “first” careers (Svitolina leading 4-1) before each left the tour for periods of maternity leave. Svitolina gave birth to her first child, daughter Skaï, in 2022, while Wozniacki ostensibly retired for good in 2020 and had two children with husband David Lee.

Both returned to action in earnest last summer: Svitolina scored impressive runs through Roland Garros and Wimbledon, where she reached the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, while Wozniacki reached the second week of the US Open, losing to eventual champion Coco Gauff.

Though both showed promise in their initial comebacks, injuries and inconsistencies have followed the two rivals since the start of 2024, a season they began up against one another at the ASB Classic in Auckland. Svitolina won the match, her fifth over the Dane, in straight sets, but soon suffered a back injury that forced her out of the Australian Open in the fourth round. Speaking candidly about the injury at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, she admitted she has not been completely pain-free since coming back to play in the Middle East.

Wozniacki enjoyed a quarterfinal run at the BNP Paribas Open but stamina has proven through many of her three-set losses. Her clay-court season ended abruptly when she was not offered a wild card into Roland Garros, and she began her grass campaign at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham, where she lost to Elise Mertens in straight sets.

Svitolina was playing her first match since bowing out of Paris in the fourth round to Elena Rybakina, and struggled to find her range early against Wozniacki, striking nine unforced errors to only four winners as she lost the opening set.

The former world No. 3 took a strong lead in the second only for Wozniacki to level proceedings from 1-4 down and ultimately force a tiebreaker.

Strong hitting from Svitolina earned her the first mini-break of the Sudden Death and helped her take a 4-2 lead at the change of ends. A deft volley brought Svitolina to set point, which she promptly converted with a searing forehand putaway.

The third set began with Wozniacki threatening to break in the second game, but as Svitolina set to work digging out of a 0-30 deficit, a wrong-footing set the 2018 Australian Open champion tumbling and grabbing her left hip.

Following an off-court medical timeout, Wozniacki found herself down a break but earned a reprieve when the match was called due to darkness.