Fresh off her Rome title, Elina Svitolina was expected to comfortably reach the second round at Roland Garros. Instead, the Ukrainian star survived a major scare against Anna Bondar, who pushed the match to a deciding super tie-break.

Svitolina, who had already lost her previous two matches against Bondar, found herself down a set and trailing 3-1 and later 5-6 in the final set. However, the world No. 7 eventually fought back and won the super tie-break 10-3 to secure her place in the second round.

Even after escaping with the win, Svitolina insisted she still does not consider herself one of the main favorites to win the title.

“I think I'm in good form, but there are still players who are more favourites than me," Elina Svitolina said in her post match conference. "I think at least five players are still bigger, they have bigger chances to win this tournament. So I'm not thinking too much about this at all."

Svitolina also explained how difficult it can be playing as one of the higher-ranked players on tour.

“When you are playing well, when you are at the top of the ranking, everybody is playing free against you. I think the example of Anna [Bondar] or other players, they have nothing to lose, so they bring their best game," she said.

Her next opponent at Roland Garros perfectly fits that description. Kaitlin Quevedo is making her Grand Slam main-draw debut in Paris after coming through qualifying.

The 20-year-old Spaniard upset Leolia Jeanjean in the opening round. The win earned Kaitlin Quevedo around $151,000 in prize money. That is a huge jump considering she had earned roughly $211,477 in total career prize money before this tournament.

Still, despite nearly suffering an early upset in Paris, Svitolina’s recent form shows exactly why she remains one of the most dangerous players in the tournament.

Elina Svitolina Carries Rome Momentum Into Roland Garros

́Elina Svitolina now leads the head-to-head series 3-2 against Anna Bondar and finally snapped a three-match losing streak against the Hungarian. She also extended her streak of reaching the second round at Roland Garros to 13 straight appearances.

“Definitely top three,” Svitolina said when asked where this ranked among the toughest first-round matches of her career.

“I had to really bring that confidence from Rome to step up my game and keep fighting. In the end, I played some good tennis, second, third set, and I was really locked in," she added.

Svitolina has also been one of the hottest players on tour recently. Earlier this month, she won the Rome title after beating Elena Rybakina, Iga Świątek, and Coco Gauff along the way.

Now ranked world No. 7, she has already defeated every player currently ranked above her at least once. So, do you agree with Elina Svitolina that there are still bigger favorites than her at Roland Garros?

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Written by

Sauramita Debbarma

Edited by

Kaamna Dwivedi