Svitolina overcomes a spirited Diane Parry to reach Roland-Garros third round
The Ukrainian won 6-4, 7-6 (3) and will face the winner of the match between Ana Bogdan and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the next round
Elina Svitolina, Roland-Garros, 2024 © Michael Baucher / Panoramic
Elina Svitolina came through a tough second-round encounter against home hope Diane Parry at Roland-Garros, beating the Frenchwoman 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Philippe-Chatrier to reach the third round.
As rain battered the grounds of the French Open for a third straight day, the highest remaining French seed in the women’s singles draw went toe-to-toe with the former world No 3 under the closed roof of Chatrier.
As was the case yesterday, the main court at Roland-Garros was again far from full despite rain halting all play on outer courts. For those ticket-holders that did manage to make it into the stadium, Parry put on an impressive display as the talented clay-courter pushed Svitolina close across two highly competitive sets.
The pair exchanged early breaks, before the Ukrainian earned another decisive breakthrough in the seventh game of the opener, then proceeding to hold serve twice and see out an entertaining first stanza.
Further exchanges of serve were made near the start of the second as strong returning remained a theme of the contest, before – as she had in the first – Svitolina struck again to move ahead and serve for the match.
Serving at 5-4, however, Svitolina was broken by her opponent for a third time after a lengthy game, before Parry held firm on serve to force a second-set tiebreak.
Unlike the match itself, however, the breaker was a one-sided affair, with Svitolina’s greater quality and experience ultimately shining through as she took it 7-3 to clinch a testing win.
A former world No 3 and WTA Finals champion, Svitolina made one of the most successful comebacks this sport has seen when she returned last spring from maternity leave, making the last eight at Roland-Garros before reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon despite having barely played across the previous year.
This season, Svitolina again looks in formidable form on the Parisian clay.
svitolina hoping for “electric” atmosphere for husband monfils this evening
Both she and husband Gael Monfils have made strong starts to the competition, with the Frenchman taking to Philippe-Chatrier this evening to play in the night match slot.
“Definitely. We don’t know how many years we’re both going to be playing on tour,” Svitolina said when asked whether it was a special feeling for the pair to still be supporting each other at this stage in their careers.
“We try to enjoy ourselves. I enjoy watching him. Hopefully we will see you all tonight with amazing support,” she continued.
“It’s much needed for him. Hopefully he’s going to go all the way and win more matches. With all the support, it’s going to be really electric here I feel.”
Monfils will take on Lorenzo Musetti in that night match for a place in the third round.
Meanwhile, Svitolina, now back up to No 19 in the world, will face the winner of the match between Ana Bogdan and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova next.
It will be another challenging encounter, especially if she is to face 2021 finalist Pavlyuchenkova. But Svitolina, even more so than she did during he excellent run here last year, looks primed and ready to mount a serious title challenge at Roland-Garros 2024.
