PARIS: Olga Danilovic won a match she had all but lost.
The Serbian qualifier, ranked 125 in the world, was bageled in the opening set of the third-round match at Roland Garros. She trailed 1-3 in the decider and was down 2-6 in the match tie-break, yet she turned it around on a biting-cold day to make the fourth round of a major for the first time in her career.
A match like this, which the 23-year-old won 0-6, 7-5, 7-6 (8) in 3 hours and 8-minutes, always has the other side of the story. At the other end of the scoreline was the world No.40 Donna Vekic, the 27-year-old twice served for the match at 5-4 and 6-5, holding a 30-0 lead the second time.
Danilovic, 6 ft in her tennis shoes, finished her second-round match against the American 11th seed Danielle Collins at 6.30 pm on Thursday. She was back on court at 11 am on Friday.
There were no celebrations after her upset win in the second round, she simply put away her phone and began preparations for her third-round match.
The Serb fell on her back on court Simonne Mathieu, tears of relief washing over her.
"It just goes out, everything from you," she said. "For me it was just a big, big relief. Just that moment of I deserved it, a moment for myself, not for anyone else."
"I fought, every shot that I could get to hit back, I did," Danilovic said. "It was a proud moment to soak in. Yesterday (Thursday) I didn't have time to enjoy the victory that I had."
