Elina Svitolina had to work hard for her third-round match but came out victorious at the French Open Friday. The third seed had a close fight to the finish line with Ekaterina Alexandrova who fell in the final moments to win 6-4, 7-5 on Suzanne Lenglen Court at Roland Garros. The win marked the fourth time the Ukrainian that she made it to the second week and the first in three years.
This marked the second time the Russian made the third round at the open. The 25-year-old earned her second consecutive trip to the round of 32 but faced a sizable opponent than last year. The Ukrainian thanked her lucky stars that she made it through after a dismal performance had added desperation to defeat Mexican rookie Renata Zarazura in three sets. Despite upsetting the birthday girl, advancement was the important key for the world number five, who wanted to improve her lack of competition. With a six-match winning streak and a title under her belt, the third seed looked to make it seven with a better output of control.
Conditions were something to get used to as the clay dealt with rain earlier, making it tougher to slide around. Svitolina and Alexandrova struggled to adjust to that as the third seed battled her serve. She managed to hold serve on the break to set the bar for the 25-year-old. The Russian had a better outcome from her service game, avoiding deuce with Svitolina. She went after her again in the third, forcing deuce with a winner. The Ukrainian recovered, holding the first AD point to remain in the lead.
The two remained on serve through eight games with Svitolina bringing the heat. After breaking Alexandrova in the ninth, the third seed delivered the first set knock out, scoring a serve to love that gave her the lead in 43 minutes. Despite two double faults and a second serve struggling to get above average, her control on serve was key to coming out in front of the Russian. Alexandrova’s 23 errors didn’t help her out, giving Svitolina the edge to continue her consistence.
The third seed blew her opening serve in the second set but caused problems for Alexandrova who easily handed breakpoints to the Ukrainian. Though she saved one, the 25-year-old went down in the second, evening the score. They returned to serve with Svitolina maintaining a stronghold with her end while going after Alexandrova on hers. The Russian returned the favor in the fifth, forcing deuce with the Ukrainian, but failed to counter.
The two had remained deadlocked with service holds that led to a five-all tie and a tough time for Svitolina who worked hard holding her own end. The Russian’s offense did so well to keep with the third see that a break chance in the 11th boiled her blood. Svitolina denied her and took the 6-5 lead. Alexandrova suddenly had the nerves running through her as she served to force a tiebreak. Svitolina made that moment very difficult for the Russian who produced errors and blew the serve to five the Ukrainian the win in 1 hour and 40 minutes.
“It was not an easy match, Svitolina said to Marion Bartoli during her on-court interview. “Going into it, I knew she was hitting the ball hard and flat so I had to adjust and it was important to stay focused for every single point, dig deep and run for every single ball.”
When asked about her move into the second week of action, the 26-year-old with three other previous times in competition had the experience to know. “It’s always really nice to be in the second week of a grand slam and to have a chance to go deep into the tournament,” she said. “It’s always the goal but for the slam especially. It’s different without the crowds so it’s really something you treasure in every slam that you play.”
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