Elina Svitolina opens up on her mental battles to keep herself focused on winning while being on a ‘mission for Ukraine’ amid the war with Russia

Elina Svitolina has been named on the entry list for the 2024 Australian Open.

Elina Svitolina opens up on her mental battles to keep herself focused on winning while being on a ‘mission for Ukraine’ amid the war with Russia

Elina Svitolina (Source: Reddit)

In her recent interview with Forbes, Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina said that she is on a mission to inspire the people of her nation and bring hope in hard times like this.

She revealed that many Ukrainians are reaching out to her on Instagram and some of them met her personally when she recently paid a visit to her grandmother in Odesa, Ukraine. They told her that they were watching her matches. 

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Although the war situation between Ukraine and Russia is way better now, it is still going on, and missile strikes continue to haunt innocent civilians. The fact that even in these tough times, so many of them are watching Elina Svitolina play tennis is unbelievable for her. The 29-year-old said that every time she has a tough situation, she reminds herself of what the people in Ukraine are going through. 

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Svitolina also said that she is grateful for the moments that she gets from playing big tournaments in front of so many people. Quoting Billie Jean King, she said:

As Billie Jean King says, ‘pressure is a privilege.’ I take it this way… I know each match I am playing, I am going out feeling like it is my own battle that I have, not only to bring happiness & different headlines, but to continually remind people we still need help for kids, schools.
(H/T: Forbes)

She also started the Elina Svitolina Foundation with her husband, Gael Monfils. Her foundation aims at developing sports and tennis in general in Ukraine and supports gifted players in the nation. They are already taking full responsibility for several gifted young players. 

Elina Svitolina’s return to the court 

Elina Svitolina is set to make a comeback at the 2024 Australian Open. She is on the entry list for the tournament that was revealed recently and is the 25th-seeded player. Svitolina last appeared at the 2023 US Open, where she lost to Jessica Pegula in the third round of the tournament. 

Elina Svitolina
Elina Svitolina (Source: CNN)

Her best performance this season came at Wimbledon, where she reached the semifinals but lost to the eventual winner, Marketa Vondrousova. Fans expect the Ukrainian to return with a bang in 2024.

She had proved her mettle at Wimbledon 2023 by defeating the tournament’s top seed and World No. 1 Iga Swiatek in her quarterfinal match. Apart from her, Naomi Osaka and Paula Badosa will also be making their comebacks in the tournament. 

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