Former world No.3 Elina Svitolina has confirmed that she will not play again this season following her third round loss to Coco Gauff at the US Open.
The Ukranian told reporters in her home country on Wednesday that she is pulling the plug after getting injured. She didn’t elaborate on the specific issue bothering her but she has struggled with a back problem this year. It is the second year in a row that she has ended her season early due to injury.
“I had a good season, I already finished it because I got injured.” Said Svitolina.
“To finish this year in the top 30 is a good result, considering that I was injured more [of the time] this season.
“The Olympics went well. Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring home a medal, but there were great victories. Did I manage to approach the Games at the peak of my form, given the injury? No, I didn’t manage to do so at the peak.”
“I didn’t play as I wanted in the following tournaments because I was injured. I wanted more, I wanted to play better. NowI will treat my injuries. I hope that I can start my next season better.”
The 29-year-old has recently spoken about the difficulty in balancing life as a tennis player with family commitments. She returned to tennis in April 2023 following the birth of her daughter Skai and is married to fellow tennis player Gael Monfils.
“Right now for me, I’m in this kind of situation where I think I would play less tournaments just to take care of my body and also I want to have time with my daughter, since she’s not travelling too much; we don’t take her everywhere because it would be a real hassle for her to travel everywhere,” she told reporters in New York.
“It’s all about the balance; you feel like you want to play more, because you want to be higher in the rankings and win tournaments, but it’s also, you need to take care of your mental health and your physicality.”
Svitolina hasn’t won a title this year but was runner-up at the ASB Classic in Auckland. In the Grand Slams, she reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon, as well as the fourth round of both the Australian Open and French Open. Overall, she has achieved a win-loss record of 28-17.
She is currently ranked 28th in the world.
