18th seed Elina Svitolina defeated 14th seed Ana Ivanovic to book her spot in the Round of 16 at the French Open.
Svitolina wins first set filled with breaks
Coming into the match, the Ukranian had never defeated Ivanovic in seven career meetings, but she was on the front foot immediately, breaking Ivanovic's serve. In what would emerge as a pattern, Svitolina was broken back in a marathon game lasting 13 points, the second of four straight breaks. At 3-all, Svitolina broke again, only to see the Serb break again. Ivanovic's serve has always been an issue in her career and at 4-all, it came back to haunt her, Svitolina getting what would prove to be the decisive break. At 5-4, the 18th seed did something rare: hold and the set, which featured eight breaks in ten games, was now over, the Ukranian a set to the good.
Svitolina jumps out to big lead, hangs on after Ivanovic rally to reach fourth round
The Ukranian is now under the watchful eye of Justine Henin and she made a bright start to the second set, breaking Ivanovic's serve to start. Unlike set one, Svitolina was able to hold, so much so that at 3-1, she padded her lead, nabbing an insurance break to put the Serb at the edge of defeat. Down 4-1, Ivanovic responded, breaking and then saving two break points in a 15-point epic, Svitolina's lead at 4-3 and Ivanovic's finest moment of the match. She then evened up the set, wiping out Svitolina's lead entirely with a break, the set at 4-all and the momentum now shifting. That momentum would prove to be fleeting as Svitolina immediately broke again and at 5-4, she served for the match, closing it out at 15 and recording her first career win over Ivanovic in eight career meetings.
Svitolina talks about her big win
After the match, the Ukranian spoke about her victory: "I think it was better mentality than other matches before, the other seven matches," Svitolina said. "And the game, I was really confident today. I don't know. Just everything was right. Today I was doing right things. Even missing bad shots, I was trying to stay positive and to play my tennis. I think it was working really well today, and I was really happy that I could stay in such a high level against her, and still having in my mind that I'm 0-7 down. And it was tough, but I'm really happy that I could finish the match two sets."
She also mentioned her new coaching arrangement: "I think she understands what I feel, and that's the main key," Svitolina added. "Because for some coaches who didn't play on such a high level, it's tough, I think. It's just different. It's not bad; it's not good. That's why for me it's important to have my coach Iain [Hughes], he helps me more like technical things, and she's more on the mental thing for me."
Huge challenge awaits
Next up for Svitolina is defending champion Serena Williams, a 6-4, 7-6(10) winner over 26th seed Kristina Mladenovic. Williams has won all three previous meetings, but the 18th seed won the first set of their Australian Open match last year.