After seven games of her first-round match at Roland Garros on Sunday, Svitolina’s words couldn’t have sounded much more prescient. Ajla Tomljanovic was playing highly motivated tennis. Despite her No. 68 ranking—64 spots behind Svitolina—it was Tomljanovic who was timing the ball better, who was coming up with the aggressive, rally-changing shots, and who was quickly up 5-1, and serving for the opening set at 5-2. While Tomljanovic’s backhand was finding the corners, Svitolina’s forehand seemed to be magnetically drawn to the net-cord.
For Svitolina, it was gut-check time; suddenly this had become one of the biggest moments of the 23-year-old’s career. Last May she had come to Paris as one of the dark horses after winning in Rome; this May, after beating Simona Halep easily to repeat at the Foro, many believe she’s the overall favorite for the title at Roland Garros.
But can a player who has never reached a Slam semifinal really by favored to win a Slam? This was the double pressure—to win this match and prove herself a big-tournament player—that Svitolina was under.
What she found out is that there’s an upside to being a high seed. While your opponents may start out highly motivated and with nothing to lose, they quickly get nervous when they build a lead; once they do have something to lose, and once a possible upset victory becomes a reality, everything changes.
You could see that change in Tomljanovic’s face, her body, and—most important—in her shot selection when she was up 5-2. Her breathing grew heavier, her backhands sailed wide of the sidelines instead of into the corners, and, out of nowhere, she went for a huge second serve that missed by five feet. After winning six of the first seven games, Tomljanovic would win three of the last 12. She had beaten herself before Svitolina could lay a glove on her.
“I was fighting to get back into the match,” Svitolina said when she was asked how she turned this 7-5, 6-3 match around. “And I think for me it was very important, you know, to play an extra ball over the net, and then to fight until the last point of the first set.”
WATCH—Tennis Channel's Jon Wertheim interviews Elina Svitolina after the match: