Elina Svitolina navigates new hopes, a familiar foe, and Roland Garros emotions for two

There’s a fine line between tenacity and tension on a tennis court, and Elina Svitolina crossed from one side of it to the other for most of this hot Monday afternoon in Paris. Between points, she marched across the dry clay with brisk purpose, just as she had in her recent title run in Rome. Except that now, at Roland Garros, with a Grand Slam title suddenly within the realm of possibility, you could see the strain etched across her face.

“I was overwhelmed with emotions,” she admitted.

Svitolina is 31, and was 12-0 in first-round matches in Paris before today. But this was an opener like no other for her.

First, she was feeling the weight of new expectations. A week ago at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, she won her first WTA 1000-level title in eight years, beating three of the Top 4—Elena Rybakina, Iga Swiatek, and Coco Gauff—in succession.

There we saw a leaner, meaner, harder-hitting and more aggressive Svitolina than we had ever seen before. The victory moved her up to No. 7 in the rankings, vaulted her onto Roland Garros’s second show court, Court Suzanne-Lenglen, and made her a popular dark-horse pick.

Be careful, you might say to all of these things, of what you wish for.

Second, those overwhelming emotions weren’t just for herself. Svitolina’s husband, Gael Monfils, was scheduled to play what might be his final match at his home Slam later in the day. The full-house French crowd applauded her almost as one of their own.

Read more: "Gael & Friends" celebration spotlights Monfils-Sinner bromance at Roland Garros

“The support of you guys was unbelievable,” Svitolina said.

Third, her higher seeding hadn’t earned her an easier opponent. She was playing Anna Bondar, a 28-year-old Hungarian who has had a late-career mini-surge, one that included two wins in her last two matches with Svitolina.

“Anna, we played many times against her—tired to play against her,” Svitolina laughed.

Bondar cracks a heavy forehand to either corner, but can be a hot-and-cold hitter. Today she started hot, controlling the rallies through the first set. In the second she went cold, before heating up again at the right moment, with Svitolina serving at 5-4 in the third. Bondar won eight straight points, many of them with forehand winners, to lead 6-5.

Now the tension really showed on Svitolina’s face. But it was her tenacity that won out. She steadied herself, while Bondar lost her form again, and Svitolina closed out a 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (10-3) win with a neatly carved drop volley.

It was a test, but the kind that a player can benefit from passing.

“First-round like this is nice, putting you back on track, putting your mind back working,” Svitolina said, once the threat of defeat was gone.

“I want to say thank you to my fitness coach for making me the athlete I am now,” said the trim and muscular Ukrainian.

Twice Svitolina has won Rome before, only to falter in Paris. Does she have the strength—mental and physical—to go all the way this time? She handled the first step like the highly determined veteran she has become.