Elina Svitolina rallies late to win in straight sets

Elina Svitolina rolled through her opening round match on Philippe Chatrier Court at the French Open Tuesday.

Elina Svitolina had to work hard in the end for her opening win at the French Open Tuesday. The Ukrainian saw a challenge from Oceane Babel, who nearly took them to three sets, but allowed the sixth seed to fire back and win 6-2, 7-5 on Philippe Chatrier Court at Roland Garros. 

This was Elina’s ninth appearance at Roland Garros and found herself facing the 17-year-old, who made her grand slam debut. The French teen ranked over a thousand had a huge obstacle in the shape of the world number six but could make a name for herself given the right conditions. This clay season hasn’t been pleasing for Svitolina as she failed to perform well in both Madrid and Rome. Her decision not to defend her title last week in Strasbourg left her more time to prepare for the slam in the hopes that nothing went wrong. The sixth seed had a target on her back as big names on the women’s side have fallen out early and the hope that she won’t add her name to the list. 

The French wild card got a good start to her service game, but it was defending it that became difficult against the Ukrainian. Svitolina rush to deuce where it took her one break to take the lead. The 26-year-old served Babel to love but didn’t get the chance to double break her. The teen showed that she had some firepower from her forehand that led to a service hold in the third. 

The sixth seed jumped back to her offense and tied it into the following game adding a second break on Babel. Svitolina consolidated to take a 5-1 lead on the teen, who served to stay in the set with a fight that ended on a drop shot over the net. Despite getting a second victory under her belt, the inevitable occurred when the Ukrainian served for the set. Though she had to earn the win due to Babel’s returns being a problem, Svitolina forced deuce and produced two set points to take the first in 29 minutes. She had more unforced errors than the teenager, but when it came to winners, Svitolina had five times as many to be in a good position. 

When the second set opened, she wasn’t driving the pace on the court. It was Babel, who came out to strike well with the forehand to hold serve and the opening game. The 17-year-old went on to break the Ukrainian for a big deal and backed up the break with a hard fight to earn a three-game winning streak. Svitolina got on the board with a serve to love in the fourth but knew it was going to be a tough ask getting back to level pegging. 

Babel worked hard in the fifth to secure a 4-1 stand on the sixth seed, who couldn’t afford to let another service game be broken. She continued to fight for a chance to break the teen, but Babel wouldn’t have any of it in the seventh. Her 5-2 hold put the Ukrainian on notice that every game had to be one to stave off a decider. After another serve to love in the eighth, Svitolina rushed to break Babel to love in the ninth. She changed into a higher gear that resulted in tying things up with the French wild card, scoring another strong service. 

With three wins in a row, the Ukrainian added a fourth in the shape of double-breaking Babel to serve for the match in the 11^th. After all the time she allowed the teenager to dictate part of the second set, she shut it down putting herself into position for match point with a crosscourt. On the second serve, a net-front lobbed crosscourt got placed well to end her short scare on center court to end the day in 1 hour and 16 minutes.