Monday, May 25, 2026

RG.2- A Light Flickers, but Remains Strong

The City of Light almost turned prematurely dark for Elina Svitolina on Day 2. Almost.



In the "old days," Svitolina was never at her best when it came to the pressure of expectation. It's why she never reached a major final, let alone win one, when at the "peak" of what should have been her slam contending years in the late 2010s, often collapsing on her way out the door (even at her best major), whether or not she had her foot (or more) in the door late in the event she always ended up having the door slammed shut -- often *hard* -- on it.

With her third title in Rome having recently been claimed, and with the women's title at Roland Garros not something that can be particulary -- with *true* conviction -- pinned at the center of any player's Parisian vision board as everyone works their way into this major, a now 31-year old Svitolina, having staged a successful return after becoming a first-time mother, once again finds herself in the middle of the conversation.

In the past, that didn't go very well for her in this event.

Yes, this year's RG might provide an in-form and confident Svitolina with her best chance yet at an ever-elusive major title. In truth, even before her current later-career surge it likely *always* has been the most likely site for such a thing, even while she's actually played *deeper* into the draw at *each* of the other three slam events.

Svitolina, though RG is her best slam (she arrived this year with a 33-12 mark, just two wins from officially making it her winningest major), has never quite handled the moment as well in Paris as she has in Melbourne, London or New York. Hmmm, perhaps because she *knew* it might provide her with her best chance? See above.

While having reached AO-WI-US semifinals four times in all, the Ukrainian is 0-5 in QF matches in Paris. She's lost in straight sets at that stage four times, never to the eventual champ, and once to a qualifier (as the #3 seed). In the other instance, she squandered a set and 5-1 lead (w/ a MP) vs. Simona Halep, collapsing and dropping the 3rd set at love in '17. As it turned out, it was Alona Ostapenko who defeated Halep in the final that year and lifted the Coupe Suzanne-Lenglen that might have been Svitolina's to embrace.

Arriving in the City of Light with tennis momentum, and with the sentimental push of it also being French husband Gael Monfils' final appearance in the tournament (that *officially* happened on Night 2), #7-seeded Svitolina couldn't pick a better time to shine. Then today's 1st Round match with Anna Bondar began to play out.

The Hungarian has, as they say, "had Svitolina's number" in the past. She'd beaten her in their last two meetings, at last year's U.S. Open and a month ago in Svitolina's opening match in Madrid, the last time she lost a match. Of course, Svitolina also defeated *her* at last year's RG, in a tight 2nd Rounder (7-6/7-5), and came into Monday undefeated (12-0) in 1st Round matches in the tournament, the only major at which she's never been one-and-done during her career.

That stat almost changed drastically today, as Svitolina's potentially "best" RG nearly turned out to be her worst.

Bondar took the opening set 6-3, but Svitolina rebounded to dominate a 6-1 2nd, sending things into a 3rd set for the first time in their now five-match h2h series. Bondar took a 3-1 lead in the decider before Svitolina turned the tables and ran off three straight games, going up 4-3 and leading for the first time on the scoreboard in the match.

Svitolina consolidated her break in game 8 with a hold to lead 5-3, and two games later served for the win at 5-4. But, with shades of the Halep match of nine years ago, couldn't close it out. Bondar broke to knot the set at 5-5, and three games later things went to a Match Tie-Break.

There, finally, Svitolina found her footing and didn't waver. Bondar did, though, as the Hungarian's early unforced errors in the TB contributed mightily to Svitolina taking a 5-0 lead. At 6-2, Bondar's forehand error gave Svitolina another five-point lead in the first-to-ten breaker at 7-2, though Bondar (in the moment) thought the match was over, as would be the case in a regular seven-point TB played in non-slam matches.

(As was noted by Caroline Wozniacki during TNT's coverage, why doesn't the chair umpire *make sure* that both players -- and the fans, too -- know what the scoring format is at the *start* of the breaker? Would it be *that* difficult?)

The error, and maybe the release of tension, wasn't something that Bondar could overcome. And, unlike with Halep years ago, Svitolina didn't help things along in that direction. Instead, she pushed all the way *through* the finish this time, taking a 9-2 lead and, two points later, winning 10-3 with a touch of backspin (small "b") at the net on MP, winnning 3-6/6-1/7-6(10-3) and advancing to the RG 2nd Round for a thirteenth time.

Unlike in Bondar's recent encounter with another Ukrainian, Svitolina (as she did in Madrid) greeted the Hungarian with a (hearty, in this case) handshake at the net.



So, Svitolina's personal vision board for this major stays intact. Also, this was her *second* handshake in a matter of weeks with Bondar, who was publicly chastised and snubbed on the court in Rouen by Ukraine's Oleksandra Oliynykova, who dug through the archives to charge the Hungarian with complicity in Russia's war on Ukraine because she played in a exhibition in Saint Petersburg sponsored by the Russian energy company Gazprom, and then demanded a public apology in order for her to display any sort of even obligatory respect toward her opponent when the time came. Today's moment, while not noticed much at the time like those when handshakes *haven't* occurred at the net after matches, at least prevented the post-match actions of Ukrainian players from continuing to swirl out of control.

One has sometimes doubted that the always-sporting Svitolina ever heartfully embraced at least *this* part of the Ukrainian players' stance during the war, especially after a competitive match against an opponent who deserved respect rather than total on-court disregard (and then off-court disparagement), but was committed to it nonetheless out of responsibility to the cause. Remember, she has at times at least nodded to Russian opponents in the aftermath of matches, and today continued to not extend Oliynykova's (or, probably Marta Kostyuk's, should the two play) ban to include opponents neither Russian nor Belarusian.

Oliynykova, specifically, as well as Kostyuk at times, seem to revel in the chance to flash disrespect, with the former seeming to individually search the internet for biographical reasons to snub as many opponents as possible, as if its almost a personal branding opportunity (with the upcoming snubbing announced in advance on social media as if its a promotional event).

Ironically, considering the no-handshakes/photos/acknowledgement policy has always (in part) been defended by the notion that such moments could be used by the Russian government as propaganda, the very same could be said about the public actions taken by some of the Ukrainian players, as well. It's certainly led to the extension of the shelf life of the discussion of these situations, even if the comments often remains the same on both sides of the issue (and are sometimes more than a bit unhinged).

Of course, none of that has anything to do with Svitolina's match. It was just nice to see a moment that *didn't* drag the sport even further into the mire of the situation.

After all, as was always the case in the past when athletes from nations in conflict met on the *battlefield of sport*, it can also been viewed as an opportunity to break down barriers and build bridges -- while still trying, maybe *extra* hard, to win -- that should not be taken lightly. Sometimes, a simple handshake is just that, a simple act of courtesy that often says more about the person who refuses to extend it than the person or people from whom its being withheld.

Anyway, what else happened in Paris...?






=DAY 2 NOTES=
...now, this was more like it. Forza, Jasmine. Forza.



2026 has been a rough season for Jasmine Paolini, especially compared to the last two years.

In 2024, the Italian reached back-to-back slam singles finals in Paris and London en route to a career season that included an Olympic Gold in doubles (and RG final). Last year, her success in the majors wasn't as great as a solo act, but the Italian swept the s/d titles in Rome, then won her first major title in RG doubles alongside Sara Errani. She later led Team Italia to a second straight BJK Cup championship.

But almost five full months deep into 2026, Paolini has yet to reach a singles final, nor win a doubles crown. She returned to Paris, in many ways where it all "started," with just a 3-3 mark this clay season and having dropped out of the Top 10 in singles, coming in as the #13 seed.

Well, in this case, her familiarity with the feel and setting of the second major on the tennis schedule surely provided a much-needed level of comfort. Right on cue, Paolini posted one of her best results of the year, eliminating Dayana Yastremska (a 125 winner last week) by a 7-5/6-3 score. The win over the world #45 is Paolini's best victory (by ranking) since she took out then-#14 Belinda Bencic in Ningbo last October.

The Italian had to battle early on, falling behind 5-3 in the 1st after having led 3-1. Yastremska served for the set at 5-4, but Paolini swept the final four games to take the match lead. She then saved three BP to get the hold in game 1 of the 2nd, then broke the Ukrainian a game later (on BP #4) in an eleven-minute service game. She'd hold to run her game streak to six, and didn't look back.



...it's not time for early-round honors quite yet, but some early trends *have* taken place in the first two days of women's results.

For one, the French women are putting up as poor a mark as was anticipated. After seeing none of the 14 Pastries in the women's qualifying draw play their way into the main draw field, two more losses by the home team today in Paris (from Leolia Jeanjean and Sarah Rakotomanga) drop the French to 0-5 in the opening round (w/ all five losses from players given free-pass wild cards by the FFT, with only lower-level '26 clay ace Alice Tubello left to try to avoid a total shutout). In all, just four more French women are left to debut at this RG on Day 3.

One of those women still to play is Lois Boisson, who put on a miraculous run to the semis a year ago as a wild card coming back from a knee injury. She was out early this year again, and arrives having played just five matches in 2026 (going 1-4). Elsa Jacquemot and Diane Parry round out the final French chances to reach the 2nd Round.

On the other side of the equation, the Polish and Swiss women have combined to go 8-0, with both nations sporting spotless 4-0 marks.



After wins yesterday from Magda Linette and Magdalena Frech, #3 seed Iga Swiatek got her turn today and, as usual, shined in the opening round. She's certainly a write-it-in-pen performer when it comes to this sort of thing.

Of course, maybe Swiatek would put on such shows even if she had a particuarly tougher opening round opponent, but 17-year old Emerson Jones fits what at least *feels* like the typical starting foe in majors for the four-time RG champ, one who might show some promise but who really has little chance to compete for the win on the day. Swiatek won 6-1/6-3 in the Aussie's tournament MD debut, claiming her 26th straight 1st Round slam match (including 25/25 in the 2020s) and improving to 41-3 in her RG career.

It's been been two full years since Swiatek reached a final on clay, though, so we'll see how things go from here forward. Of note, her potential 3rd Round match-up with #29 Alona Ostapenko (the Latvian is 6-0 in the series) is still on, as the '17 RG champ defeated Ella Seidel 6-4/6-4 today. Now only Linette (vs. Ostapenko) and Sara Bejlek (vs. Iga) stand in the way of their first meeting in Paris.

Swiatek was joined in the 2nd Round today by Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinksa, whose 6-4/6-0 defeat of Zheng Qinwen (nowhere near back to form after her elbow injury) means the '24 Paris Olymipc Gold winner will drop from #56 to all the way out of the *Top 100* after RG.



With no Polish women yet to play a 1st Round match remaining, the nation's undefeated mark will go on. Switzerland, with Simona Waltert set to go on Day 3 (vs. Siniakova), one final 1st Round hurdle remians. But the Swiss knocked off *two* seeds today alone.

Yes, the seeded players in question -- #31 Cristina Bucsa and #20 Liudmila Samsonova -- are currently in dire straights when it comes to posting W's, but it still counts.

It was qualifier Susan Bandecchi, making her slam MD debut at age 27, who took out Bucsa 6-4/2-6/6-4, handing the Spaniard her sixth straight loss. Bucsa has gone 1-6 since sweeping the s/d titles in Merida, winning her maiden tour singles crown.



Jil Teichmann,in the draw via her protected ranking but coming in hot off a SF run in Rabat, took down Samsonova, winning 6-4/6-4 to drop the Hordette to 7-13 on the season as she remains in the throes of one of her patented poor season starts. I included this in Saturday's Week 19 post, but I find it so fascinating that I'll update and use it again here.

Samsonova's starts and finishes to seasons the last few years couldn't be any more remarkably different. Her starts:

2022: 10-14 (until winning Washington in August)
2023: 8-9 (until a Madrid 4th Round)
2024: 5-11 (until a Strasbourg SF)
2025: 10-11 (until a Strasbourg RU)
2026: 7-13 (so far)

Even with those starts, she's not had a sub-.500 season in the bunch. Here are her season finishes:

2022: 20-3 (for 30-17)
2023: 26-15 (for 34-24)
2024: 21-12 (for 26-23)
2025: 20-12 (for 30-23)
2026: ???

Talk about a "failure to launch."

Meanwhile, after a Day 1 win from #11 Belinda Bencic, Viktorija Golubic allowed just two games to Panna Udvardy today, completing Switzerland's (so far) 4-0 1st Round experience at this major.

...Of course, Samsonova has nothing on Maya Joint, whose faltering "year after" fate continues to, well, falter.

The Aussie, who won two tour titles last year in a breakout campaign, lost her *tenth* straight match this season today (falling to 2-12) in a 6-1/6-2 defeat at the hands of #28 Anastasia Potapova. Of course, the Austrian has been virtually on fire this spring, and is now 15-4 on the dirt with Linz RU, Madrid SF and Rome 4th Round results all in a row this clay season.

...while the latest "addition" (Oksana S.) didn't provide much oomph to the España cause on Day 1, one from a short time back did today, as qualifier Kaitlin Quevedo made her slam MD debut, notching a 7-6(5)/7-6(2) win over Leolia Jeanjean for her maiden victory in a major.



The 20-year old improved to 13-4 this clay season with the win, which comes on the heels of a $75K title run and three straight three-set wins in the qualifying rounds. Quevedo is on a nine-match winning streak.

She avoided going three today, recovering from losing a 5-3 1st set lead to take an opening TB win after falling behind 5-4, then in a no-break 2nd set immediately seizing control of a second breaker and winning 7-2.

Quevedo is edging close to making her Top 100 debut. The current ESP #3, she has 21 wins on the season across all levels. The ESP #1 and #2 (Bucsa and Bouzas Maneiro) have *combined* for 17 this year.









...NO IDEA...... ON DAY 2:


...why the WTA social media presented Svitolina's comeback like this. A win from a set down, while *technically* a comeback victory, isn't really some monumental moment of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. I mean, she trailed 3-1 in the 3rd... why not present the comeback as a rally from *that* deficit?




...LET'S DANCE... ON DAY 2:




...ARE WE SURE THIS IS STILL AN IMPROVEMENT?... ON DAY 2:

After such praise a year ago in the first year of TNT's coverage of Roland Garros, the machine is back this year, but with an overreliance on too-much-yappin' behind a desk (aka "ESPN disease," additionally aka "when a Backspinner mutes the audio") rather than showing actual tennis matches. Meanwhile, the "whip-around" on TruTV is just an excuse for more yappin' from the McEnroe brothers as they try to be tennis' version of the Mannings on their Monday Night Football watch-and-talk show.

I mean, do we really need a courtside interview with Tiafoe on TNT, following just minutes later by a sitting-in-a-chair drop-in with Tiafoe on TruTV when, I don't know, a dozen or so matches are taking place around the grounds?

Meanwhile, late in the day, with two matches going on, both channels were showing, you guessed it, the same match.













Before the likes of Venus and Osaka had Barbie dolls made in their likeness, there was Lenglen...


















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Everyone wanted to talk about Juan Martin not being in the *greatest* shape (hey, he retired four years ago... and was *always* hurt, give him a break) in this exhibition. They were missing the point -- Simona was on a court with a racket! That's always a nice thing to see. Hmmm, maybe it's previewing a return to Wimbledon in the Invitational competition?















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*2026 FIRST CAREER SLAM MD WINS (w/ career slam MD)
-AUSTRALIAN OPEN (5)-
Nikola Bartunkova, CZE (1st)
Linda Klimovicova, POL (1st)
Petra Marcinko, CRO (1st)
Taylah Preston, AUS (3rd)
Oksana Selekhmeteva, RUS (5th)
-ROLAND GARROS (4 through Day 2)-
Susan Bandecchi, SUI (1st)
Marina Bassols Ribera, ESP (2nd)
Francesca Jones, GBR (7th)
Kaitlin Quevedo, ESP (1st)

*SLAM MD APPEARANCE STREAKS - MEXICO (since 1990)*
13 - Angelia Gavaldon, 1993 AO-1996 AO
10 - RENATA ZARAZUA, 2024 AO-current
5 - Angelica Gavaldon, 1990 AO-1991 AO





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TOP QUALIFIER: Claire Liu/USA
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): x
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): x
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q1: Oceane Dodin/FRA (PR) def. Kayla Day/USA 6-4/2-6/7-6(15-13) - saved 2 MP in TB, wins on MP #5
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): x
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.-WC): x
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: #27 Marie Bouzkova/CZE (def. Bronzetti/ITA)
FIRST SEED OUT: #21 Clara Tauson/DEN (1r - lost to Snigur/UKR)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: 1r wins: Susan Bandecchi/SUI (1st MD), Marina Bassols Ribera/ESP (2nd MD), Francesca Jones/GBR (7th MD), Kaitlin Quevedo/ESP (1st MD)
UPSET QUEENS: x
REVELATION LADIES: x
NATION OF POOR SOULS: early nominee: FRA (none of 14 in Q-draw reach MD; are 0-5 through Day 2, French wild cards winless year after WC Boisson to SF
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: 1r wins: Susan Bandecchi/SUI, Marina Bassols Ribera/ESP, Maja Chwalinska/POL, Kaitlin Quevedo/ESP, Wang Xiyu/CHN
LUCKY LOSER WINS: --
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: 1r wins: x
PROTECTED RANKING WINS: 1r wins: Jil Teichmann/SUI
LAST PASTRY STANDING: 1r wins: 0-5 Day 1/2, 4 to play 1r
Ms./Mademoiselle OPPORTUNITY: x
IT "??": x
COMEBACK: x
CRASH & BURN: x
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF PARIS: Nominees: Baptiste (1r- saved 2 MP at 6-4 in 2nd set TB vs. Krejcikova; McNally (1r- trailed set and double-break 3-0 vs. Tomljanovic); F.Jones (1r- trailed Haddad Maia 6-1/4-2; gets maiden slam MD win); Snigur (1r- trailed Tauson set and 5-3, Tauson served 5-4); Svitolina (1r- trailed Bondar 3-1 in 3rd; avoided first 1r RG loss in 13 app.)
DOUBLES STAR: x
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): x
Mademoiselle/Madame OF THE EVENING: --
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: x
Legion de Lenglen: 100th anniversary of Suzanne Lenglen's last "grand slam" titles (RG WS/WD/MX sweep) in 1926 (she'd retire after controversial Wimbledon withdrawal and join professional tour that summer)
Coupe LA PETIT TAUREAU: (award given on Henin's birthday, June 1)






All for Day 2. More tomorrow.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 6:39 PM 

1 Comments:

Blogger Diane said...

I'm not positive, but I seem to recall that--in the early days of the war--Svitolina was opposed to handshakes with Russians because she feared that videos of them would be used as agitprop--a reasonable objection, imo, That's why she would give a wave or something, after establishing enough distance between her and her opponent. I don't know if that's still her belief (assuming that my memory is working here).

Mon May 25, 07:15:00 PM EDT  

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