Elina Svitolina has said she would have felt ‘happier’ about her season if her performance on clay this year went better.
The world No.4 enters this week’s Moscow Open still in the hunt for a first title of 2019. A stark contrast to her two previous seasons where she has won four or more WTA tournaments. However, Svitolina has reached the quarter-finals or better in three out of the four grand slam events. Overall, she currently has a win-loss record of 35-20 on the tour.
“There were good tournaments and matches, but there were also many matches and tournaments, which I wish I could play better.” Svitolina said during media day at the Kremlin Cup on Monday.
“For example, Roland Garros, but the injury didn’t let me prepare myself as well as I wanted. I was sad that the clay season went bad. The ranking would have been better, and I would have been happier if everything were different during the clay season.”
On the clay Svitolina lost her opening matches in Madrid and Rome. She was the defending champion in Rome. Then at the French Open she lost to Garbine Muguruza in the third round. Out of those three tournaments, she only managed to win one match (excluding walkovers). During that period she was also managing a knee injury.
Whilst she may be lacking silverware, the Ukrainian has managed to maintain her consistency on the women’s tour. Reaching the quarter-final in six out of her last eight tournaments played since Wimbledon. On Monday she officially qualified for the season-ending WTA Finals in Shenzhen where she will be the defending champion.
“Consistency is paramount game and physical fitness, too. If there is no consistency, you cannot move forward, you cannot play big tournaments, you begin to doubt, you lose confidence.” She explains.
“You build up your confidence when you play successfully, then you can play the Slams with confidence. Grand Slams always mean extra pressure. You must always be prepared and seize every opportunity.”
Heading into the final swing of the year, Svitolina states that she is feeling better both mentally and physically. Helped by her qualification for the WTA Finals, which has been one of her targets. Seven out of the eight participants for Shenzhen have been confirmed.
“I had a week to take a break after Beijing, I feel much better. There have been a lot of tournaments played this year.” Said Svitolina.
“Psychologically, I feel a little better after I qualified for the WTA Finals. There was a lot of pressure involved as I was trying to get into the Top8. For me, this was the goal of this year, which put a lot of pressure on me psychologically. But now I have already rested, I feel good and will try to be ready for this tournament.”
The 25-year-old is the top seed in this week’s Kremlin Cup, which is a Premier event. She is one of three top 10 players in this year’s field, along with Kiki Bertens and Belinda Bencic. It is her first appearance in the tournament since 2016 when she reached the semifinals before losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Granted a bye in the first round, Svitolina will start her Moscow campaign against either Ons Jabeur or Veronika Kudermetova.
Svitolina’s WTA titles
| 2018 | Brisbane International (H); Dubai (H); Rome (CL); WTA Finals (IH); (4) |
| 2017 | Taiwan Open (IH); Dubai Open (H); Istanbul (CL); Rome (CL); Canadian Open (H); (5) |
| 2016 | Kuala Lumpur (H); (1) |
| 2015 | Marrakech (CL); (1) |
| 2014 | Baku (H); (1) |
| 2013 | Baku (H); (1) |
Total = 13
