Mother of all battles: Svitolina outlasts Kasatkina at French Open

As Elina Svitolina stepped up to the baseline to contest her second match point 20 minutes after squandering her first, she sprinted on the spot, she furiously swung forehands and backhands in the air and did everything to show that she was ready. Nearly two hours into her fourth-round battle with Daria Kasatkina, seemingly every exchange had been long, intense and physical, but Svitolina knows that few players can match her physicality.

Moments later Svitolina extended her brilliant comeback as she outlasted Kasatkina, the ninth seed, 6-4, 7-5 in two exhausting sets to reach the quarter-finals of her first grand slam tournament since becoming a mother.

After twice failing to serve out the match in the second set, the world No 192 gave a comprehensive demonstration of her resilience as she recovered to close out the match in two sets. Svitolina, who started the season unranked, is now on an eight-match winning streak after winning Strasbourg the week before the French Open and an undeniable contender in Paris.

“Definitely, I wouldn’t dream about this when I was giving birth in October last year,” Svitolina said. “This is unbelievable for me to be able to compete here and then going all the way to the quarter-final is definitely a really special feeling.”

In the years since Svitolina’s biggest successes, the women’s game has seen a notable shift. While other defence-based players like Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber, Caroline Wozniacki occupied the rankings then, today the top 10 is filled with first-strike, attacking players.

But this was reminiscent of Svitolina’s counterpunching battles with previous top players, both players working hard to break the other down and grind each other to dust. In the end, Svitolina’s