Absent from the courts since her elimination in the third round of the US Open by Coco Gauff, Elina Svitolina will make her return to the main circuit for the Australian Open.
Opposed to another returnee, Sorana Cirstea, for her entry into the running, the Ukrainian, former world number 3, underwent foot surgery at the end of last year and ended her 2024 season in September.
The winner of the 2018 WTA Finals played a charity match on the courts of Melbourne against Zheng Qinwen.
After the match, the 30-year-old player returned, on court, to the last few months which were difficult after the operation.
“It was a very complicated end to the season for me last year. I had a stress fracture in my foot which disabled me for a long time, I played with it for a year.
I was getting to a stage where it was getting hard for me to deal with this, so I decided to have surgery. This is the first operation of my career, and I know how difficult it is to return to the circuit.
-I already came back after my pregnancy, so this is the second time. I just try to train as best as possible, I spent a lot of time on the courts during the offseason. I hope to be physically ready throughout the year,” she began.
Elina Svitolina then returned to the fact of being more regularly with her daughter since the end of the summer.
“It’s special to have our daughter (Skaï, who just celebrated her 2nd birthday), traveling with us, to spend time with her…
Just talking about it makes me emotional every time. We spent a long preseason on the courts with Gaël, so we are with her more often off the courts.
We try to enjoy it as much as possible,” concluded Svitolina, who reached the quarter-finals twice in Melbourne (2018 and 2019).
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