Chance has brought Elina Svitolina to face Victoria Azarenka in the first round of the WTA 500 in Washington. However, in the Media Day of the tournament, the Ukrainian did not want to comment much on her first rival and focused on talking about everything she has experienced this year and the luck of coinciding with Monfils.
At a great level since his return
“I wish I could have played and handled some situations better before Strasbourg. Then it all came together in Strasbourg, and I was playing better tennis. I was handling situations better mentally. The problem for me was at the beginning, because I was away from tennis for a year , a lot happened. War, baby, all of that made it seem so much longer than a year. So I had to find my focus again, my game for every game, every point. Then when it really got better, I started playing better Before Roland Garros I had a lot of confidence winning Strasbourg and then playing well at the Slams.”
Better player than before being a mother?
“I definitely have a lot of experience. Now, once I’m back on tour, starting from scratch, I still have experience from playing many years at a high level, and I try to analyze what I did well and take the best of those years and build about that. I am happy that I am healthy right now, that I have the opportunity to train well, happy that everything went well and I was able to work really hard for three months after being a mother. For me, the priority right now is to be healthy So I know that if I’m healthy I can spend many hours on the court and the results will come.”
Debut before Azarenka and without controversy over the final greeting
“Well, it’s the draw. It was possible that I would play Victoria again. So I just have to accept this, practice and prepare. After our match at Wimbledon, the WTA, as you know, came out with the statement that there would be no squeezing. between the Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian players. I also had a talk with Steve Simon (WTA president) and he told me that they will announce before our match that there will be no handshake. So I’m happy with that.”
His great performance at Wimbledon
“I didn’t expect something like that, but I believed that every game I played I had a chance to win. I just had to focus, do my best to beat them, follow my tactics and of course control my nerves, because coming back on tour, you don’t know how your body is going to be. I was happy, you know, I was able to find this approach for those big games and moments as well. So I tried to make the best of it and hopefully I can keep playing and doing the same on this tour.”
Play the same tournament as Monfils, his husband
“It was actually one of the reasons for coming here, because we got to spend some time together. We could, you know, so many weeks out of the year that we travel, so it’s nice to have each other, support each other, and spend time together with our teams. Almost the same as when we train, so it’s good, it makes you feel good and especially in a 500 event. It’s a great opportunity, I guess, for the fans and for the players to see these types of combined events.”
Conversations about tennis in the couple
“Yeah, we talked casually, I would say. I never like to sit down after every game and talk like you do with your coach. Sometimes I can ask his opinion, what he thought about the game I played or he asks me things. So we’re there on for each other. You know, sometimes you might not see the same things with your coach, so you also want a second opinion on some things. So we have a pretty easy, informal conversation. We’re not afraid to tell each other some things that might hurt each other. I think it’s also very important that you take this information as advice and not as someone trying to hurt someone. So I’m happy that we understand each other on this, and it’s good.”
2023-07-31 06:00:00
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