Third round place secured ✅ Elina Svitolina is victorious over Elise Mertens... how far do you think she will go at #Wimbledon?
"I expect a return to the top 10": Svitolina still aiming high in post pregnancy return after reaching fourth round in consecutive Grand Slams
WTASaturday, 08 July 2023 at 21:00
Elina
Svitolina expressed her desire to make a comeback to the top-10 rankings after
her break due to pregnancy.
Svitolina's
adaptation to the WTA tour after being out for a year has been quick. Most
players take several months to regain their level, especially top players, and
it can be challenging and lengthy for players to return to their pre-break
position after pregnancy.
However,
there are several examples of successful comebacks, such as Victoria Azarenka,
who remained competitive after the birth of her son in 2016, and Serena
Williams, who returned after the birth of her daughter in 2017, although
neither reached their pre-pregnancy results. Other successful examples include
Kim Clijsters, who returned after a two-year break in 2009 and won three Grand
Slam titles before retiring, and Lindsay Davenport, who also won two Grand Slam
titles after returning from a break due to pregnancy.
Svitolina's
case has been remarkable, as just three months after her comeback, she has
shown that she is approaching her pre-break level. The former world No. 3 is
currently ranked No. 53 in the live WTA ranking, despite being outside the top
1000 in late April.
“Every time
I participate in a tournament, I want to win it. It doesn’t matter.”
“Even the
first tournament I played in Charleston, everyone said to me, ‘Oh, it’s
incredible, you are already playing your first tournament in April’. But even
then, my goal was to win the tournament.”
Svitolina
was the champion of the Estrasburgo Open and then reached the quarterfinals of
the 2023 French Open, losing to Aryna Sabalenka by 6-4, 6-4. Regarding her
upcoming goals, the Ukrainian said, "
“I didn’t
know how my body was going to react under a lot of pressure, when there’s a lot
going on in your head, when you have a lot of adrenaline, nerves.
“Your body
is a little different, it reacts differently. So it takes time. For some
people, it may click a little earlier. For some, it takes time, so you have to
expect the worst for everything to go well.
Svitolina's
best result at Wimbledon so far is reaching the semifinals in 2019, where she
lost to the eventual champion and one of her biggest rivals, Simona Halep, who
had also eliminated Victoria Azarenka along the way, Azarenka being Svitolina's
next opponent.
Azarenka's
best result at the All England Club is reaching the semifinals in 2011 and
2012. The match between Svitolina and Azarenka will be a showdown between two
of the top players in the WTA in recent years, although Azarenka holds a 5-0
head-to-head advantage.
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