Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 2, 2023 Ukraine's Elina Svitolina celebrates winning her third round match against Russia's Anna Blinkova REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
PARIS (Reuters) - Former French Open quarter-finalist Elina Svitolina moved into the Roland Garros fourth round with a determined performance to stave off giant-killing Russian Anna Blinkova and claim a 2-6 6-2 7-5 victory on Friday.
Svitolina returned to the WTA Tour at the Charleston Open in April following the birth of her daughter Skai with husband and fellow tennis player Gael Monfils and bagged her first title in two years by beating Blinkova in last week's Strasbourg final.
The former world number three, playing in the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2022 Australian Open, was staring at defeat after dropping the first set tamely but hit back to level the match and broke early in the decider.
Blinkova had stunned fifth seed Caroline Garcia in the last round and the 24-year-old refused to surrender as she clawed her way back from 1-3 and went toe-to-toe with Svitolina until 5-5 before the Ukrainian sealed the win with a superb backhand pass.
Up next for Svitolina is another Russian - last year's semi-finalist Daria Kasatkina - who beat Peyton Stearns.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Paris; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
