Beaten in the final last year in Paris, Jasmine Paolini will go further than the knockout stages in this Roland-Garros. On Sunday, at the opening of the day, the Italian, 4th world and recently titled in Rome, was surprised in three sets (4-6, 7-6, 6-1) by Elina Svitolina, qualified for a fifth quarter-final in Paris after saving three match balls. A sacred performance on the part of the Ukrainian.
Gaël Monfils did well to stay in Paris. Deprived of the trip to Munich with the other Parisian VIP supporters to bear this PSG executioner on Saturday evening of Inter Milan in the final of the Champions League and crowned for the first time in his history in the extent that his wife Elina Svitolina was still in the race at Roland-Garros and in addition scheduled on Sunday in the first rotation, the French champion lived another immense moment of happiness, less than twenty-four hours late.
His wife champion has indeed validated her ticket for a fifth quarter -final in the Paris tournament, two years after her last on this same clay of the capital, offering one of the immense favorites of the tournament: the Italian Jasmine Paolini. Like last January in Melbourne, but this time on behalf of the third round, the Ukrainian, first very badly embarked and even a time on the edge of the precipice, dropped the world number 4 by overthrowing it in three sets (4-6, 7-6, 6-1) after giving in the first round. Led a set to nothing and then 5-4 in the second round against the recent winner of the Rome tournament but especially a finalist of the last edition, Svitolina then found himself three times at a point in defeat.
“Svito” shipped in the last set
But these three match bullets (including one in the decisive game) in favor of the Italian, number 14 in the classification, which can finally dream of climbing the last square of the tournament, managed to spread them before winning the tie-break (8-6) and putting the counters to zero at the dawn of this third round that Paolini had probably not seen coming.
It is with the same force of character and the same determination as the world’s ex-numéro 3 began the latter set, without still knowing that it was going to fly to it despite a burst of pride from last year’s finalist when she was already carried out 4-0. And if Paolini had not been able to take advantage of his three opportunities earlier in the game, only one match ball was enough for Madame Monfils, who will rub in Iga Swiatek or Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals.
