Elina
Svitolina retired from the 2024
Australian Open in tears during the match
against
Linda Noskova in the round of 16 due to a back injury. Tennis
specialists Barbara Schett and Tim Henman commented on the frustration the
Ukrainian must be feeling after a missed opportunity.
The current
world No. 23 returned to the WTA Tour last year after more than a year away due
to maternity. Svitolina has had exceptional performances in her recent Grand
Slam appearances, and in Australia, she played only three games in her
fourth-round match before concluding the match due to her injury.
At 29 years
old and after becoming a mother, Svitolina remains a renowned tennis player who
can defeat any opponent. Last year, she reached the quarterfinals at the French
Open and then the semifinals at Wimbledon (where she eliminated the world No. 1
Iga Swiatek). Svitolina advanced to the fourth round with three easy wins in
consecutive sets and entered the match with Noskova looking to reach the
quarterfinals.
After
leaving in tears, commentator Barbara Schett asserted that Svitolina had a good
opportunity in this Grand Slam, which increased the frustration due to the
injury: “A missed opportunity for Svitolina, that’s why she was probably so
teary, not because of her back, but because of that missed opportunity,” said
Eurosport expert Schett.
With the
upsets of the seeded players, Svitolina's path could have reached the
semifinals without facing seeded opponents, where the possibility of the 12th
seed Qinwen Zheng appears in a tournament full of surprises: “Against
Yastremska, she could have won. That section has opened up beautifully,"
Schett added.
“I love
that there’s upsets and new names popping up, especially in that section of the
draw. Of course, you have the world No. 1 Swiatek out, and Rybakina there. We
also had Pegula there and they all lost.”
Former
world No. 4 Tim Henman also lamented Svitolina's withdrawal: “Svitolina has
been such an inspirational story coming back as a mother and playing great
tennis,” he said.
“So
frustrating to be playing well at the latter stages of an event and then just
to suddenly have that come on. I’ve had that problem before and there’s nothing
you can do once you get the shooting pain and you get the spasm, you just can’t
move.
“Really
frustrating, really disappointing. She speaks wisely that she’s got to take her
time and prioritise her health and we hope to see her back playing well at the
big events in the future.”
