French presence in both singles' draws ended on Thursday as Arthur Rinderknech lost in four sets to Taylor Fritz on the day fifth seed Caroline Garcia was knocked out in the second round.
It was the second time in three years that no French player made it to the third round at their home major - but local fans have found a new hero in Svitolina who beat Russian ninth seed Daria Kasatkina 6-4 7-6 (7-5) to advance.
"Last French player standing," said Svitolina, who got a taste of what to expect after winning the Strasbourg title after returning to the circuit earlier this year following the birth of her daughter Skai with fellow tennis player Monfils.
"I already knew from Strasbourg that a lot of people supported me. We have been married for a couple of years now. I've been with Gael for over five years now. I didn't expect that it would come like this year.
"I feel almost like I'm 17 again coming on the tour fresh. I'm not defending any points. Not here, not next week."
In the quarter-finals, Svitolina will take on world No.2 Aryna Sabalenka, who weathered a spectacular first set implosion to beat American Sloane Stephens 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.
The Belarusian gave Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion, no hope at the start, unleashing a barrage of baseline missiles that left the 30-year-old stunned and looking around for help.
Sabalenka, the hardest-hitting player on the women's tour and the 2023 Australian Open champion, raced to a 5-0 lead with Stephens winning a total of just eight points.
But the American, no stranger to the Paris big stage after reaching the final in 2018, was not done yet, battling back to take the first set into a tiebreak.
Sabalanka managed to regroup, win the stanza and then cut down on the unforced errors in the second set as she repelled another Stephens comeback.
Two unseeded women will play each other in another quarter-final - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 2021 runner-up at Roland Garros, and Karolina Muchova.
Pavlyuchenkova, who missed last year's tournament as part of a lengthy absence with a knee injury, got past a third consecutive seeded opponent, No.28 Elise Mertens, 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 score.Â
Muchova was a 6-4 6-4 winner against Elina Avanesyan, a 'lucky loser' who lost in qualifying but got into the main draw when another player withdrew.
With AP
