Elina Svitolina put in a lot of work to get out of a jam at the French Open Thursday. The world number six had an up and down fight against Tsvetana Pironkova but found her way to win in three sets 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Court Two on the grounds of Roland Garros. The Ukrainian had a dismal second serve and 28 unforced errors in what was a battle to make it into the third round winning her seventh match in a row.
The two made it their first meeting against one another with the world number six carrying the biggest leverage. Her win against Yaroslava Shvedova on Tuesday indicated her toughness on the clay and capturing her sixth match win in a row. With her being the top contender, the 22-year-old had to remained focused and keep her skills at a level that the Bulgarian couldn’t match.
The Ukrainian started with a strategy of power on the returns delivering good ball placement to win the love service. Pironkova responded with her own signature style of offense beating Svitolina with stretch shots to the baseline that beat the fifth seed. Since it worked to start her serve, the 29-year-old decided to implement the attack in the third. It worked for a time until Svitolina rallied back to force deuce. She wasted no time gaining the advantage to put away the game with a solid line drive winner to keep play on serve.
Seeing the type of game her opponent wanted to play, the 22-year-old decided to fight fire with fire and attack Pironkova for the break. They went to two breaks where Pironkova stood firm against Svitolina keeping the set even. They remained on serve through six until the Bulgarian pulled off the first break of the day.
It was just the right moment for her to gain a footing with the lead and extend her way to adding pressure to the world number six. Svitolina was on the edge of losing the set as she witnessed the line drives of Pironkova’s becoming far too good. The double fault didn’t come at the right time handing her opponent a quick conclusion of the set that lasted 36 minutes. While Pironkova’s serve held steady, the Ukrainian had obvious trouble on the second serve landing three or nine and 11 of 31 on the return. She hoped that her bathroom break between sets was enough to help her regroup going into the second.
She started things off with a break but then watched Pironkova do the same in response. It became a fight for breaks with Svitolina setting the pace hoping to stay ahead of her opponent in the set. Svitolina kept the pace but turned the tables in the sixth with the first hold from either player in the set. The fight for control from Svitolina was successfully achieved but it only inspired Pironkova to do the same.
She held her own in the seventh despite being down a game on the fifth seed. She kept her in the rear-view mirror taking a 5-3 hold as the need for a third set was critical for Svitolina’s future in the tournament. Pironkova made that effort difficult trying her best to hold serve in the ninth. She lasted two breaks before her own serve allowed her to commit an unforced error that ended the set in 34 minutes sending the two the distance.
Being well acquainted with the situation in the past, Svitolina went on a tear against Pironkova winning 11 of the last 15 points. The 3-0 hold she had to her name gave her enough leverage to keep the pressure on her opponent and kept her eyes on the third round. Pironkova had her eyes on lock of the same goal putting together an important hold before consolidating a break from Svitolina. Sitting a game down on the fifth seed kept her threatening the Ukrainian who didn’t want to give up the lead.
Svitolina gained another step keeping two games between her and Pironkova with a key break. When the ball came back to the world number six, she delivered up another win that put her in position for the match while Pironkova fought to keep the set going. She found herself in a bad spot down two points on serve till a key winner put her in reach of deuce. Pironkova didn’t get it as a return from Svitolina landed inches inside the line to end the match with a stunning win in the third that took 26 minutes. Her force to get the job done was full of strong forehanded shots and positioning on court that led her to get through after 1 hour and 50 minutes.
Svitolina’s fight to keep her first serve together paid off just enough to end the day on a positive note. She only got 13 of 29 points on the second serve and had as many unforced errors as she did winners which saved her in the end. The journey doesn’t get any easier for her with the recent victories and a winning streak on the line when she’ll face Poland’s Magda Linette on Saturday.
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