PARIS (Reuters) – Third seed Elina Svitolina recovered from a mid-match meltdown to beat Mexican qualifier Renata Zarazua 6-3 0-6 6-2 and advance to the third round of the French Open on Wednesday.
The 178th-ranked Zarazua, who became the first Mexican woman to win a Grand Slam main draw match in more than 20 years during her first round, made a nervous start as Svitolina took the opening set with three breaks of serve.
But if Svitolina hoped for a quick outing under the closed roof of Court Philippe Chatrier, she was in for a shock as Zarazua, celebrating her 23rd birthday on Wednesday, handed her a bagel to level the match.
The world number five managed to shift gears, breaking Zarazua three times in the deciding set and sealed the victory on her first matchpoint to set up a third round match against either Australian Astra Sharma or Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova.
(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; editing by Christian Radnedge)
