Elina Svitolina came into her fourth-round match against qualifier Petra Martic knowing that everyone remaining in the draw was on equal footing—a maiden major title is one of theirs for the taking.

Perhaps that explains the fifth seed's slow start against the 290th-ranked player in the world, Petra Martic, and a finish that was much too close for comfort. Martic, a 26-year-old from Croatia, recently returned to action after 10 injury-affected months away from the game. Her French Open prep consisted of ITF-level tournaments in Italy and Tunisia—where she posted a 13-2 record.

Meanwhile, Svitolina's star has been on a rapid rise ever since her upset of Serena Williams at last summer's Olympic Games. She closed 2016 with runs to the New Haven final, Tokyo semifinals, Beijing semifinals, Moscow semifinals and the final of the season-ending tournament in Zhuhai. This season has only been more impressive: the 22-year-old Ukranian has won four titles, in Taipei City, Dubai, Istanbul and Rome, where she ousted Top 10 players Karolina Pliskova, Garbine Muguruza and Simona Halep.

And yet, none of that seemed to matter on Monday, when Martic took a 5-2 lead against Svitolina in the third and deciding set. She even got to 0-30 on Svitolina's serve.

And yet—none of that mattered in the end. For Svitolina won 20 of the next 24 points to complete a stunning, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 comeback:

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The Rome champion's survival means she'll face the Rome runner-up, Halep, in a tantalizing red-clay rematch. While Svitolina enters their marquee quarterfinal battle-tested, if a bit battered, Halep comes into the contest with the utmost confidence. She has lost just 19 games over the course of four rounds, one fewer than Rafael Nadal—who has, it must be said, played four more sets than Halep.

Nonetheless, Halep's sterling play warrants attention, particularly in her fourth-round match against talented clay-courter Carla Suarez Navarro. It was the inverse of Svitolina's day: a 6-1, 6-1 tour de force:

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The most interesting portion of Halep's day came after the match, during a studio interview with Tennis Channel at Roland Garros. In addition to saying that she can't compare herself to Nadal—"he's killing everyone here"—Halep discussed her ankle ligament injury she suffered in Rome. The ailment was of great concern before the tournament, so much so that Halep's participation was in doubt, but it appears to be under control.

Halep also pulled back the curtain on some of her public and private conversations with coach Darren Cahill. After a contentious moment of on-court coaching in Miami—"I was really ashamed," said Halep—Cahill told her that she has everything to win big tournaments, except for her attitude.

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Between her success at Roland Garros and a recent bout of humility, Halep should come into her match against Svitolina assured in her abilities, but not overconfident. It will be a challenging combination for Svitolina to handle. While she probably feels like she received a second lease on life, that can't be construed as house money—there's too much at stake at this moment of great opportunity.

Prior to their showdown in Rome, which Svitolina won 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, the two had met just once before: in 2013, in Sofia, a match Halep won, 6-1, 6-1. Bring on the rubber match.

Holding Serve with Roger Federer will air on Thursday, June 8th at 2 p.m. ET, only on Tennis Channel.

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