Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina managed to add to her growing title collection with her latest triumph at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Saturday.
Taking on Russia’s Daria Kasatkina in the final, the 23-year-old breezed to a 6-4, 6-0, victory. Securing her 11th WTA title, Svitolina became only the third woman in history to defend the Dubai title. Following in the footsteps of Justine Henin and Venus Williams. Furthermore, she has now won her past seven consecutive tour finals.
Aside from her talent on the court, Svitolina believes that part of the success is attributed to her mental approach to the finals. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, the world No.4 perceives each one as an opportunity to learn something. In Dubai, it was all about coping with the pressure.
“All the time I try to take it as a challenge, something new. Each tournament, the ones that I won, brought something really special into my game.” She explained.
“This title particularly, handling the pressure, playing the way I had to play on court, yeah. Every final was different. I tried to just be ready 100 per cent, then see how it goes.”
“But I’m very pleased it’s going my way most of the time.”
Svitolina has won two titles so far this season after her triumph in Brisbane at the start of the year. Only her and Petra Kvitova has managed to win multiple titles on the tour so far this season. She is aiming to become the most decorated player for the second year in a row. Last year Svitolina claimed five trophies, including three at Premier level.
“When I was growing up, for me, I just loved playing tennis. I loved competing. I think this really brought me into the high level.” She reflects.
“My family that was pushing me, not crazy, but in the right way. My brother who also had a big influence on me, motivating me when I was young, which was important. All these things that really came together. Yeah, I’m happy that I’m moving the right direction.”
Despite her tour successes, grand slam tournaments remain an Achilles heel for Svitolina. Her best performances were reaching the quarter-finals on three occasions, once at the Australian Open (2018) and twice at the French Open (2015 and 2017).
Fortunately age is on the right side of the Ukrainian with some of her rivals not winning a major title until after the age of 25. The most recent being Caroline Wozniacki at the age of 27 in Australia.
The sky’s the limit for Svitolina and her winning mentality.
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