Defending Strasbourg champion Elina Svitolina has made a winning start to her title defense at a French WTA 500 tournament after defeating a local player.
Svitolina, seeded at No. 7, overcame France’s Diane Parry 6-3 6-4 for her ninth consecutive win in Strasbourg.
After winning Strasbourg in 2020, Svitolina returned to the tournament last year and won her second title at the French clay tournament. This year, Svitolina is again off to a winning start in Strasbourg as the former world No. 3 hopes to win her third title at the tournament before the French Open.
In the Strasbourg round-of-16, Svitolina will again be playing against a French player as next up for the Ukrainian will be world No. 43 Clara Burel. Against Burel, Svitolina owns a 2-0 head-to-head record.
How Svitolina overcame Parry in her Strasbourg opener?
Svitolina made a great start to her Strasbourg opener, claiming an early break in the third game. Two games later, Svitolina had a chance to go up by a double break but Parry saved a break point to keep it a one-break distance.
Svitolina may have failed to go up by a double break in the fifth game but she managed to do so in the seventh game after earning her second break for a…
