Svitolina advances to last 16 at French Open

Third seed Elina Svitolina progressed to the last 16 of the French Open on Friday with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Ukrainian Svitolina, who won a title on clay at Strasbourg last week, meets 16th seed Elise Mertens or France’s Caroline Garcia for a place in the quarter-finals.

Fifth-ranked Svitolina has reached the last eight twice before at Roland Garros in 2015 and 2017.