{"id":296191,"date":"2023-11-05T23:26:44","date_gmt":"2023-11-05T23:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/?p=296191"},"modified":"2023-11-05T23:26:44","modified_gmt":"2023-11-05T23:26:44","slug":"svitolina-when-i-face-a-russian-i-fight-like-a-soldier-in-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/tennis\/svitolina-when-i-face-a-russian-i-fight-like-a-soldier-in-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Svitolina:\u00a0&apos;When I face a Russian I fight like a soldier in Ukraine&apos;"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>As she returns to her war-torn homeland for the first time in nine months, Elina Svitolina discusses her responsibility to hit back on the court: &#8216;When I face a Russian I fight like a soldier in Ukraine&#8217;<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Elina Svitolina has returned to Ukraine for the first time since\u00a0February<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u00a0She will see family, attend a children&#8217;s tournament and give coaching clinics<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The\u00a0world No 25 had emotional runs at Wimbledon and French Open this year\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This weekend Elina Svitolina has made the difficult journey to Kyiv, via train from Poland, and switched on the app which warns Ukrainians of incoming missile and drone attacks.<\/p>\n<p>Her visit involves travelling to Odesa to see her 85-year-old grandmother and other family members, and attending the finals of a tournament supported by her childrens\u2019 foundation, while also giving coaching clinics.<\/p>\n<p>It is a far cry from high summer a few months ago, when she made an emotional run to Wimbledon\u2019s semi-finals, freighted with a wider symbolism for her country.<\/p>\n<p>This is her first trip home since February and in the intervening time she compiled one of the more remarkable competitive seasons of any athlete this year, whatever the sport.<\/p>\n<p>From having no ranking after giving birth to her first child little more than a year ago, she has risen to world No 25, a run that also included a French Open quarter-final appearance.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/05\/20\/77432695-0-image-a-55_1699217996997.jpg\" height=\"436\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Elina Svitolina has risen to world No 25 after emotional runs at Wimbledon and French Open<\/p>\n<p>However, as she sadly notes, she is not expecting much to have changed in Ukraine, where the struggle persists.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I have a lot planned for this visit and will be seeing my grandmother and other family members, which I have been looking forward to,\u2019 says Svitolina, perching on a plush sofa in the players\u2019 lounge at last week\u2019s Paris Masters, where she was watching her husband \u2014 French star Gael Monfils \u2014 in action.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018My grandmother seems to be doing fine but Odesa is quite a dangerous place right now because they are attacking the port, there are alarms or bombs there pretty much every night. I suppose people are getting more used to living in these conditions now after so long, so she has got more used to it.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I have wanted to go, I know there is a risk but we have some good protection systems and I will follow all the procedures, like having the app, and go to the bomb shelters if I have to.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I feel I need to go to my home country, I miss my family and the culture.\u2019 Between coming back in April and succumbing to an ankle injury after the US Open, Svitolina \u2014 who lives much of the time in Monaco with her husband and son \u2014 played 33 matches.<\/p>\n<p>Nine of them were against players from Russia or Belarus, of which she won seven before heading straight to her chair without the customary handshake at the net. It is a practice which has been followed by all Ukrainian players against that opposition.<\/p>\n<p>None were more highly charged than her fourth round at Wimbledon against Victoria Azarenka, which turned out to be among the matches of the year, a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 victory played out in a partisan and pulsating atmosphere rarely ever seen at the stately All England Club.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/05\/21\/77432737-0-image-a-56_1699218160120.jpg\" height=\"441\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Svitolina snubs Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka after her quarter-final defeat at French Open<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Wimbledon, support-wise, was unbelievable and this really pushed me to play my best tennis,\u2019 she says. \u2018A lot of Ukrainians feel like the UK is a second home so it is a special bond and actually that match was one of the highlights of my career. I was so happy afterwards.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>A defining characteristic of 2023 has been the continuing tension in the women\u2019s locker room between players from one nation and those from the two allies who have been destroying it, and nobody found themselves more caught up in it than Ukraine\u2019s top performer.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It\u2019s not any easier, there are still a lot of things happening on and off the court. It takes a lot of energy being around the locker room and playing against them, because I feel they are representing their country and I am representing mine.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It feels a bit like a war, of course it isn\u2019t war but still there are different types of battles within this war, so every time I step on the court against them it is a big motivation and also I know how many people are back in Ukraine watching and I feel this responsibility as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It takes a lot of energy out of me, so you have to think that pressure is a privilege. I go out there and fight like a soldier in Ukraine does.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It has been an energy-draining year, it is still difficult mentally but I found motivation on a daily basis to continue working on my professional path, because I know I can use it as a platform for more important things and raising awareness about Ukraine and raising money for the children.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>She admits to being anxious that the terrible events in Gaza have taken some of the focus away from her own country.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It has been nearly two years for us, I can see that around the world awareness has gone down right now which is a concern.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/05\/21\/77433869-0-image-a-58_1699218991166.jpg\" height=\"384\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Her Wimbeldon victory over Victoria Azarenka was played out in a highly-charged atmosphere<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Of course I know there is so much bad stuff going on in the world. I am just one individual doing as much I can in this terrible situation.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>She plans to resume full training upon her return from Ukraine, ready for next year on the WTA Tour, which has been further troubled this week by complaints over the surface at the season-end WTA Finals in Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I saw the court was not ready, I don\u2019t know why the WTA wanted to host it in Cancun,\u2019 she admits. \u2018It\u2019s a shame for the best eight players in the world to be playing in these conditions, it\u2019s terrible for our sport to be honest.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Yet as she knows too well, these are very much first world problems compared to infinitely more significant troubles occurring elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/tennis\/article-12713385\/As-returns-war-torn-homeland-time-nine-months-Elina-Svitolina-discusses-responsibility-hit-court-face-Russian-fight-like-soldier-Ukraine.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As she returns to her war-torn homeland for the first time in nine months, Elina Svitolina discusses her responsibility to hit back on the court: &#8216;When I face a Russian I fight like a soldier in Ukraine&#8217; Elina Svitolina has returned to Ukraine for the first time since\u00a0February \u00a0She will see family, attend a children&#8217;s&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296190,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Svitolina:\u00a0&amp;apos;When I face a Russian I fight like a soldier in Ukraine&amp;apos; - Tell My Sport<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/tennis\/svitolina-when-i-face-a-russian-i-fight-like-a-soldier-in-ukraine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Svitolina:\u00a0&amp;apos;When I face a Russian I fight like a soldier in Ukraine&amp;apos; 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