Elina Svitolina pulled off the comeback of comebacks at the French Open Monday afternoon. The world number six rallied in the final set down 5-2 fighting for every point to come out with a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over Petra Martic on Court Suzanne Lenglen at Roland Garros. The struggle with her injury and numerous errors allowed her to maintain her winning streak to extend to nine consecutive victories.
The Ukrainian holds and eight match winning streak in her dominance to be the best on clay this season. Her fourth-round match also has her close to tying a personal best from two years ago when she made the final eight. As one of the strongest contenders to make it deeper than ever before, Svitolina looked to take care of the Croatian a second time like she did that very year of her making the quarters. While it was only five games played at Roland Garros, the 22-year-old stood was aware of her opponent’s tactics and planned to deal with them during the very first rally.
She found herself feeling out the first few games where Martic had a good output of competitive spirit that showed more through her own service. She and Svitolina had their small issues during the rallies but when the Ukrainian delivered her first double fault followed by a pair on errors on the forehand. It was just enough to hand the Croatian her first break. It wouldn’t be the last as she stayed out front despite seeing a quick recover from the world number six in the previous game.
Svitolina had herself in a spot after the eighth where an important hold gave Martic first chances at the set. The Ukrainian put together a great set of serves that helped her avoid the set from ending and an opportunity to force Martic deep. It wasn’t meant to be as Svitolina’s return on the backhand went right into the net instead of getting over to continue fighting. It was the first set in four straight that she won and the second in the tournament to date. The win for Martic gave her an edge to dictate forward but the skills from Svitolina were just the start after 35 minutes finishing with just 22 percent of points won on the second serve
She struggled with the both sides of her serve as the backhand continued to hand the Croatian easy points. Martic returned the favor in the second but it wasn’t enough to remedy the troubles Svitolina had on serve that had her fighting to get on deuce. She somehow gained the key moment to attain a service hold in the set that gave her not only the lead but a much-needed confidence boost. It was quickly diminished by Martic who put pressure on Svitolina during her serve that enabled the errors to come into play once more.
When the Ukrainian played on serve, her game showed improvement leading both to understand the path that was forming three games in. With being a set down, the fifth seed didn’t want to waste time and struggle to keep control of the score. She made a strike in the sixth that paid off on the break giving her first sizable lead. it returned to just a game as Martic attacked Svitolina to the point of her struggling to force deuce. The world number six couldn’t lock down the pivotal win that would have given her three games but was once again in danger of losing complete control.
An important hold in the eighth arrived just in time for the fifth seed as she brought together a strong hold on serve that gave her the will to end the set at all costs. Her attacks on Martic’s serve in the ninth allowed her to frustrate the 26-year-old and even the score after
During the break, Svitolina had a session with the trainer complaining about muscle strains in her back that led to her receiving medication to continue playing. Martic opened the decider with a hold of serve that set the pace for Svitolina as well. They went through four games of service holds when the moment arrived for the Croatian. Martic delivered a key break in the fifth that allowed her to blast through Svitolina’s whose offense was well below par.
It opened the door for Martic to take a 5-2 lead and put the Ukrainian on the edge of an upset. Her push to stay ahead on serve in the eighth was helped by a ball landing wide of the court but Svitolina wasn’t yet out of trouble. They went to the ninth where Martic served for the match but found it hard to get a point on serve. In her attempts, Martic put together difficult shots for Svitolina who still managed to hold her end and extend the match another game.
It was the tenth that saw Svitolina bring together her strongest game that despite having a fifth double fault, she held serve and forced the set to continue with two games sitting between the players. Staying in form, Svitolina delivered on an attack that minimized the response from Martic to win the break and earn her chance to serve for the match. The fifth seed had her best coming together on court opening a 40-0 hold before her points streak briefly came to a close. The Ukrainian still held it together and pulled off a miraculous comeback winning 20 of the last 24 points. The intensity and push from Svitolina gave her a major sigh of relief after completing the most challenging 2 hours and four minutes she’s had on court so far in the tournament.
“Amazing tennis from Petra today,” Svitolina said after the match. “She was really striking the ball well and I was trying to find my way and I was very happy to come back in the second set.”
“I decided to give everything I had and just stay very strong mentally. Today was a bit struggling with my injury but hopefully I can recover well and be strong for quarterfinals.”
For a second time in two weeks, the 22-year-old had Simona Halep in her path after having beaten her for the title in Rome. “She’s a great player and brings intensity to the court so I will try to recover first and enjoy my victory today because it was intense in the end.”
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