Elina Svitolina may not have the run that many expect her to at Roland Garros this year.
Svitolina won the Italian Open for the third time in her career, and first since 2018, after beating Coco Gauff in the final last week.
This has continued an impressive 2026 season so far for the Ukrainian, who is currently third in the race to the WTA Finals, with Svitolina now seen as a contender for the Roland Garros title this year.
While it is completely understandable that Svitolina is seen as a potential Roland Garros champion, she now has a significant hurdle to overcome in her first round match.
Elina Svitolina under threat of first round exit at Roland Garros
Svitolina’s draw for Roland Garros appears to look positive for her chances of a deep run, with 11th seed Belinda Bencic the highest-ranked potential opponent in her first four rounds.
However, it is Svitolina’s first round opponent of Anna Bondar who has proven that she can cause her some issues.
While world number 58 Bondar does not appear to be a huge threat to Svitolina on the surface, she has caused her significant problems in the past.
The head-to-head between Svitolina and Bondar is currently level at 2-2, but it is the latter who has won their two most recent encounters.
This includes a meeting at a Grand Slam and on clay, with Bondar beating Svitolina in the first round of the US Open, as well as at the Madrid Open most recently.
Both of these victories for Bondar were in straight sets, and will therefore make her a huge threat to Svitolina, who is already under a lot of pressure as one of the favorites for the Roland Garros title.
The one positive from this matchup that Svitolina has to fall back on is that she beat Bondar at Roland Garros just last year.
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Svitolina’s previous results at Roland Garros also mean that she may not be as big a favorite for the title as made out.
Roland Garros is Svitolina’s best Grand Slam in terms of win-loss record, but it is actually the only major tournament where she has not reached the semifinals.
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Svitolina has reached five previous quarterfinals at Roland Garros, but she has failed to win any of those.
This includes her defeat last year to four-time Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek, who Svitolina is forecast to play in the quarterfinals this year.
| Year | Elina Svitolina’s result at Roland Garros |
| 2013 | Second Round |
| 2014 | Second Round |
| 2015 | Quarterfinal |
| 2016 | Fourth Round |
| 2017 | Quarterfinal |
| 2018 | Third Round |
| 2019 | Third Round |
| 2020 | Quarterfinal |
| 2021 | Third Round |
| 2023 | Quarterfinal |
| 2024 | Fourth Round |
| 2025 | Quarterfinal |
Svitolina will be hoping to break this streak of losing Roland Garros quarterfinals, but first she will have to overcome her recent poor record against Bondar.
The first round match between Svitolina and Bondar will take place on Monday, May 25.
