Elina Svitolina after the rigors of the last set to the eighth final Roland Garros | sports

Svitolina (WTA-192) initially had a lot of trouble with No. 56 in the world. Blinkova attacked a lot and on sharp balls Apprentice coach Raymond Slaughter No answer. In the second group, the roles were reversed and this meant that the third group had to decide.

The 28-year-old Svitolina, who gave birth to daughter Sky and husband Gael Monfils on October 15 last year, has had her first break. However, this was quickly reversed by the Russian opponent. At 5-5, Svitolina seemed to take care of the final blow as the Russian served out. One game later, however, Blinkova was given a tiebreaker opportunity. However, the Ukrainian player kept her cool and scored her second match point.

I wasn’t moving well and it was just fighting to find my good game. I didn’t feel very good today, but I played well under pressure in the third set. “I gave a thousand percent on that last ball,” said Svitolina, who did not shake hands with her Russian opponent afterward.

In the run-up to Roland Garros, Svitolina managed to win the WTA tournament in Strasbourg, after an absence he returned to 192nd place in the world ranking. She won four matches in the Roland Garros pre-tournament tournament and claimed her first title since returning from pregnancy.

I came here with no expectations, and coming back after pregnancy is not easy. But I’m really excited to do a good job here. Now it’s a matter of recovery. ” In the eighth finals in Paris, Svitolina will again play against a Russian, and then Daria Kasatkina (WTA-9) is the woman to defeat.

Belgian tennis star Elise Mertens caused a surprise in the third round of the Roland Garros Championship by eliminating American Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-3. The match lasted only 1 hour and 22 minutes. Pegula was seeded third in Paris.

Mertens started actively on Court Philippe Chatrier winning the first five matches. She had already won the first set after 29 minutes. In the second set, Pegula entered the match better and took a 3-2 lead. However, Mertens won her last four games, although she had to break three points with a 4-3 lead. The center court winner said afterwards, “I am very happy to beat such a good player in straight sets”. She has already beat Pegula twice and never lost to her.

Pegula helped her opponent by making 28 unnecessary errors, and Mertens made only 13 unnecessary errors. The Belgian won nearly three-quarters of the points on her own serve, and Pegula won only half the points.

In the lead-up to Roland Garros, Pegula was also eliminated early at the WTA Grand Slam tournament in Rome, in the second round. Before that, Pegula reached the quarter-finals in Madrid.

Pegula reached the quarter-finals in Paris last year. The world No. 3 has never made it past the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam. She is the highest eliminated player. Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka, No. 1 and No. 2 in the world, are still in the tournament.

Mertens, at 27, is No. 28 in the world. Five years ago, she was ranked twelfth in the world rankings. Reached the last four at the 2018 Australian Open.

For Russia’s Andrei Rublev, Roland Garros has already ended after the third round. The number 7 ranked number gave up his 2-0 lead in sets against Italian Lorenzo Sonego and lost in an exciting way in five sets: 5-7 0-6 6-3 7-6 (5) 6-3.

Rublev reached the last eight in Paris last year, just as he did in 2020. He has never made it past the quarter-finals at a major tournament.

In the fourth round, Sonego will again face the Russian. Then Karen Khachanov is his opponent.

Sabalenka easily qualified for the fourth round in the second match of the day at Court Philippe Chatrier. The second seed from Belarus settled Kamila Rashimova from Russia in 67 minutes: 6-2, 6-2.

Earlier this year, Sabalenka (25) won her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. At the beginning of this month she won the Grand Prix of Clay Courts in Madrid.

Sabalenka may face American Sloane Stephens in the fourth round, who will face Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva in the round of 32.