"It will be a very big challenge," Svitolina sets the stage for clash against Paolini at Roland Garros

Elina Svitolina isn’t making much noise, but she’s establishing herself as one of the dark horses in the latter stages of Roland Garros. The Ukrainian, ranked 14th in the world, had to fight hard to overcome Bernarda Pera, who served twice for the match in the second set before leading 3-0 in the tie-break.

Ultimately, Svitolina relied on her experience to secure the win (7-6, 7-6 in 2 hours and 13 minutes) on Court Simonne-Mathieu. This marks her 17th victory of the season on clay, and no one has done better in 2025.

After the match against the 30-year-old American left-hander, the 2018 WTA Finals winner reflected on her victory and looked ahead to her round of 16 clash on Sunday against reigning finalist Jasmine Paolini.

The two have already faced off earlier this season in the third round of the Australian Open, where the Ukrainian prevailed in three sets back in January (2-6, 6-4, 6-0).

"The crowd made the difference today—it was incredible, thank you. It was a tough battle today. Bernarda (Pera) pushed me to my limits and forced me to raise my level. I had to stay strong to win this match in two tie-breaks. This court (Simonne-Mathieu) is very special to me.

"The stands are close to the court, which is really nice. Today, I’m very grateful to the fans—they carried me and inspired me to deliver this great performance.

"Of course, now I need to rest. It will be important for me to recover physically and mentally, to disconnect for a few hours. Then, I’ll get back on the court and train.

"I’ll prepare for the upcoming battle against Jasmine (Paolini). It will be a very big challenge for me," Svitolina concluded in remarks gathered by Tribuna after the match.