Ace Elina is told to Buz off
ELINA SVITOLINA admitted she’d been surprised by Mihaela Buzarnescu after crashing 6-3 7-5 to the Romanian.
Buzarnescu, seeded 31, capped a remarkable rise from an injury-hit world No.377 a year ago as she made her French Open main draw debut to stun the Ukrainian world No.4.
After her third-round exit Svitolina said: “I didn’t know much about her. I watched a bit of video of her playing so I knew a little what to expect.
“But today I was off, couldn’t find my rhythm and was really struggling. On the other hand she was playing great tennis. She was really on the ball.”
Buzarnescu will now face US Open runner-up Madison Keys for a place in the quarter-finals.
The big-hitting American saved two set points in the second set to put away Japan’s Naomi Osaka 6-1 7-6 in the third round.
And world No.2 Caroline Wozniacki continued her run in Paris with a 6-0 6-3 win over local hope Pauline Parmentier.
Up next for the Dane is a fourthround test against 14th seed Daria Kasatkina who overcame Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-1 1-6 6-3.
The Russian’s idol is Rafa Nadal and a vicious top-spin forehand modelled on his helped her do it.
Asked what she’d learned from him Kasatkina said: “A lot, a topspin forehand, movement on the court and fighting spirit for sure. Because I watched Rafa a lot I started to spin the ball.”
Meanwhile, Lindsay Davenport has hailed Serena Williams for showing it’s possible to pursue sporting goals when you’re a mum.
Davenport hopes it will encourage more mums to play professional tennis and said: “For a long time it didn’t feel like that was an option. Now it’s wonderful for them to be able to look at playing on as a possibility.”