When Elina Svitolina conducted her press conference at Wimbledon, her first sentence was ‘It’s not perfect, but the painkillers are working.’ The quote was in reference to a foot injury that has been troubling her in recent week’s. It could be tempting for the Ukrainian to withdraw from the tournament, but Svitolina is prepared to give it everything for her No.1 dream.
Her Wimbledon campaign started on Monday against Ashleigh Barty, a former junior champion who recently reached the final of the Birmingham International. Engaged in a test of nerves, Svitolina dropped serve three times before sealing the match 7-5, 7-6(8), on her sixth match point.
“I was brave in the important moments, and went for my shots.” Said Svitolina. “I lost a little bit of my rhythm in the second set where I was 4-2 up, but, I can say that Barty, she plays well on grass and it was kind of like I was expecting that she would come back into the match and play some great shots..”
“I was really happy the way I finished it very strong.” She added.
Svitolina has struggled on the grass throughout her career. Prior to this year, she has only won two main draw matches in four appearances at Wimbledon and is yet to reach a WTA final on the surface. There is also the added complication of a foot injury this time round. Last month she told the media in Birmingham that she finds it painful to walk. The problem continues to pester the fourth seed, but Svitolina has vowed to continue playing for as long as she can.
“The only thing is that we’ll see if I’m not gonna make it worse for future, but for the moment I will go and play through the pain.”
With four titles already to her name this season, including two Premier trophies, Svitolina is rising up the WTA rankings. She currently lies third in the Porsche Race to Singapore behind Karolina Pliskova and Simona Halep. So far in 2017 she has won 37 out of 45 tour matches played.
The No.1 dream
At fifth in the world, Svitolina is closing in on one of her dreams – becoming world No.1. It is a tough ask for the Ukrainian given the openness of women’s tennis. On the other hand, she has won more titles than any other player on the tour this season.
“It’s a big motivation for me, big goal to be No. 1, to reach this goal, because everyone is, very hungry for this. So no one is going to give you, on a plate, the No. 1 place.”
Few will doubt the determination and talent Svitolina has. She has already illustrated her credentials as a top threat by defeating a world No.1 player four times since 2016 (Serena Williams once and Angelique Kerber three times). Yet, the mature and reflective 22-year-old is aware that her No.1 dream may never come true.
“I need to earn this place. So that’s why I try to take one match at a time. I try to train well. I trying to do everything what it takes to be there.” She said.
“If it comes, it comes. If it doesn’t,you know, I will say that I did everything what I can and then just move on.”
Svitolina will play Italy’s Francesca Schiavone in the second round at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
