"I enjoy watching him" - Elina Svitolina urges French Open fans to support her husband Gael Monfils in 2R clash against Lorenzo Musetti

Elina Svitolina requested the crowd to support her husband Gael Monfils when the Frenchman locks horns with Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in the French Open 2024 men’s singles second round on Thursday, May 30. The 29-year-old Svitolina had her share of joy after she advanced to the third round. The Ukrainian defeated Diane Parry 6-4, 7-6(3) in an hour and 52 minutes.

After her victory over the Frenchwoman, Svitolina was asked about Monfils and his upcoming match on Centre Court. She said that with support for Monfils, the atmosphere at Philippe-Chatrier would be electric.

“Definitely. We do not know how many years we are both going to be playing on tour. We try to enjoy ourself. I enjoy watching him. Hopefully we will see you all tonight with amazing support. It is much needed for him. Hopefully he is gonna go all the way & win more matches… With all the support, it is going to be really electric here I feel,” Svitolina said in the on-court interview.

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Elina Svitolina survives mini-scare against Diane Parry

As far as her match against Parry was concerned, Svitolina went 1-0 up in the first set, but her opponent earned the break back in the very next game. At 3-3, Svitolina earned her second service break and won the set in 55 minutes.

The second set looked to be a one-sided affair as Svitolina went 4-1 up and threatened to pull the curtains down on the match in a hurry. But Parry was not ready to give up easily. She broke Svitolina’s service twice to take the set into the tie-breaker.

In the tie-breaker. Svitolina did not show any complacency and raced to a 6-1 lead. Although Parry won two points in a row, it was always going to be tough for her to make a comeback.

In the third round, Svitolina will be up against the winner of the match between Romania’s Ana Bogdan and Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Friday, May 31.

Monfils, on the other hand, would be high on confidence after setting the record for most wins in Grand Slams by a Frenchman. He went to the top after beating Thiago Seyboth Wild 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round.

He now has 122 wins to his name, going past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s tally of 121. Richard Gasquet, Jean Borotra and Henri Cochet have 116, 103 and 97 wins to their names respectively.