With a roar of delight after ripping a forehand winner to close out a courageous triumph at Roland Garros on Tuesday, Nellie Taraba Wallberg skipped to the net with surprising spring.

The Swede had just spent two hours 46 minutes on Court 10 to edge Julie Pastikova 6-3 6-7(2) 7-5 in a gripping second round match in warm conditions, yet she looked fresh enough to play another two sets and later returned to the court for doubles.

After shaking hands with her gallant rival from Czechia, Taraba Wallberg celebrated with fans who had offered great support throughout the fabulous match, posing for photographs and signing autographs before engaging in a lengthy discussion with her entourage.

“It's so nice to have people cheering for you. Like, I get so pumped and it makes me fight even more for every point,” she said. “I'm just so glad that they came. There were many Swedish people here today. It was such fun.

“It was such a long match and I had match points at 5-3 and I was feeling my legs, and everything, but I am glad I found a way through and I am just so happy for the win.”

The 18-year-old, who has represented Sweden in the Billie Jean King Cup and twice played in the Swedish Open, packs considerable punch from her backhand and forehand wings.

This is not necessarily a surprise given her mother Frida Wallberg was a champion boxer who held the WBC super-featherweight title between 2010 and 2013.

On occasion mother and daughter spend time boxing to mix up her training routine and the right-hander said her mum continued to set an example for her to follow with her fitness.

“I do boxing sometimes with her and fitness sometimes also, because she is very strong. She is still doing full fitness every day, so she has inspired me a lot as well,” she said.

Taraba Wallberg, who will play Austria’s Lilli Tagger for a spot in the quarter-finals of the girls’ singles, hails from a nation with a rich tennis heritage headed by legend Bjorn Borg.

Her own Swedish inspiration is closer to her in age, with the emerging talent saying she has been assisted by former professional Johanna Larsson, who won two WTA Tour titles.

“She played not long ago and she actually helps me a lot,” Taraba Wallberg said. “I played with her for two tournaments over two weeks and she gives me a lot of advice. I
would say she is my inspiration.”

Taraba Wallberg, who defeated No. 14 seed Annika Penickova in three sets in the opening round, said her resilience on the court has been assisted by competing in ITF senior events.

“I would say that they are more mature and you have to fight for every point,” she said. “The juniors, they are more easy to break, so I try to fight for every point like they do.”

Tagger shapes as a testing opponent. She has been in excellent form and was able to progress to the third round with a 7-5 6-3 triumph against Romania’s Giulia Safina Pope.

In other notable results, No. 1 seed Emerson Jones from Australia demonstrated her ability to respond to a challenge once again when beating Vendula Valdmannova 6-1 2-6 6-4.

Her doubles partner Hannah Klugman, the No. 8 seed from Great Britain, started brilliantly against Ksenia Efremova and was able to maintain her focus in a sound 6-1 6-3 triumph.

No. 13 seed Charo Esquiva Banuls from Spain also continued her promising start in Paris when too strong for Bulgarian Elizara Yaneva, winning 6-4 6-2.

Argentinian Luna Maria Cinalli rallied from a one set deficit against Sonja Zhenikhova from Germany and will now play No. 11 seed Ruien Zhang, who was an impressive 6-1 6-4 winner over promising French player Daphnee Mpetshi Perricard.