Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina overcame an early deficit to defeat Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 on Sunday, advancing to the French Open quarterfinals at Roland Garros in Paris.
The seventh-seeded Svitolina, who is pursuing her first Grand Slam championship at 31 years old, entered the tournament with strong momentum after capturing the Rome title by defeating Coco Gauff in that tournament’s final.
Her path through Paris started with a three-set battle in the opening round, followed by convincing victories in rounds two and three that built her confidence heading into Sunday’s matchup against the 11th-seeded Bencic on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Bencic, who is also chasing her inaugural major championship after earning Olympic gold in Tokyo five years ago, managed to hold off Svitolina’s late push in the first set to take an early advantage.
However, Svitolina found her rhythm in the second set to even the match, then dominated the final set as Bencic’s resistance crumbled.
The Ukrainian completed her comeback by shutting out her opponent in the third set, setting up a quarterfinal clash with compatriot Kostyuk, who earlier upset four-time French Open winner Iga Swiatek.
