French Open 2026: Svitolina survives scare, Swiatek sails

PARIS: Elina Svitolina arrived at the French Open carrying the hottest form on tour. The 31-year-old world No. 7, fresh off her title run in Rome, was up against Anna Bondar of Hungary, ranked 50 places below the Ukrainian.

The pair were meeting for the fifth time in 12 months, with their head-tohead tied at 2-2.Svitolina, mother to a three-year-old and wife of Gael Monfils, who is in the midst of a farewell season, was pushed to the limit on Monday. Under a blazing Paris sky, the deciding set seemed to be slipping away from Bondar when Svitolina moved ahead 5-3 and looked poised to serve out the match. But the Hungarian surged back, winning 12 of the next 13 points to take a 6-5 lead.

Svitolina responded emphatically, holding to love to force the 10-point match tiebreak.

Svitolina survived the Bondar scare to seal a 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (10-3) victory, coming away with 37 winners in the two-hour and 26-minute match. Elsewhere, four-time champion Iga Swiatek made a brisk start to her campaign, allowing 17-year-old Australian Emerson Jones just three games in a 6-1, 6-2 clay-court masterclass.In other matches, Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar brushed aside American Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-1, 6-0, 6-4 in a blistering one-hour 34-minute performance.

Next up for Jodar in the French capital is Australian James Duckworth, who was leading Gabriel Diallo 6-1, 4-1 when the Canadian retired. Pablo Carreno Busta also advanced with a 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-3 upset over 12th seed Jiri Lehecka.The 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka, playing his final French Open, bowed out to Dutchman Jesper de Jong 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.