Elina Svitolina didn’t expect to be back in the third round at the French Open.
Not yet anyway.
When the 28-year-old first returned to the practice court in January, after giving birth to her daughter, Skai, in October, she knew it would take time to get back to her former level. She patiently plotted out her competitive schedule accordingly, with her first tournament on the green clay at Charleston in April and then two ITF events. Her focus was merely on getting match experience again and earning ranking points after a 13-month absence from tour.
But, just two months after making her return, the former world No. 3 won the title at last week’s Internationaux de Strasbourg — and is now into the round of 32 at the French Open behind a dominant opening victory over 2022 French Open semifinalist Martina Trevisan and a 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 comeback win over Storm Hunter on Wednesday.
Ranked outside of the top 1,000 entering the month of May, Svitolina started the tournament at No. 192 and is now in the top 135 in the live rankings. She will next face Anna Blinkova, who upset No. 5 seed Caroline Garcia in the second round, on Friday.
“It’s extremely special,” Svitolina said on court after her second-round match. “To get a chance to play Roland Garros and [get] past two rounds, it’s already amazing for me. In January, I didn’t even think I would be at this stage, fit and playing great tennis against great players. So yeah, it’s [an] extremely special moment for me.”
The winning continues ✅@ElinaSvitolina keeps the family momentum going completing the comeback against Sanders 2-6 6-3, 6-1.#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/Yu4k3LIYYe
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 31, 2023
Svitolina is a three-time quarterfinalist at Roland Garros, playing in the main draw at the event for the 10th time in her career, but this time around everything is different.
She and her husband Gael Monfils have been playing in the same tournament for the first time since becoming parents, so they are staying together with Skai and what Svitolina called a “team” to help with childcare. Like Svitolina, Monfils was also looking for his first major victory of the year — and he did it Tuesday night in a five-set thriller against Sebastian Baez in front of an elated crowd in France.
Svitolina watched every minute from her hotel room and said she was screaming and cheering throughout. Less than 12 hours later, Monfils was seated courtside for Svitolina’s…
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