“Can you tell me if my husband is playing on Grandstand?” – Elina Svitolina asks umpire for update on Gael Monfils to ‘draw motivation’ during US Open
In an unusual turn of events at the US Open, Elina Svitolina enquired about her husband Gael Monfils during her second-round match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Thursday, August 31.
Monfils bowed out of the New York Major after he was downed 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 by Russia's Andrey Rublev in the second round. On the other hand, Svitolina defeated Pavlyuchenkova to set up a clash with World No. 3 Jessica Pegula in the third round.
Despite losing the opening set, Svitolina capitalized on her opponent's 45 unforced errors and secured the next two sets to win the match 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 after two hours and 47 minutes.
Leading 4-3 in the second set, the Ukrainian nonchalantly asked the chair umpire if her husband's match had begun on the adjacent court.
"Ref, can you tell me if my husband is playing on the Grandstand?" she enquired.
The 28-year-old was later asked to reflect on the occurrence during her on-court interview. She said she had asked about Monfils, who was playing at the Grandstand, to draw some motivation while competing against Pavlyuchenkova inside Louis Armstrong Stadium.
“I was just trying to get some little motivation, you know, from him. I know he is playing out there and just change my head little bit because I was not playing my best. I had to… you know to bring different energy and was just thinking about him little bit,” Elina Svitolina replied.
"I speak to myself, I convince myself that I got this" - Elina Svitolina after 2R win at US Open
After a hard-fought victory in the second round at the US Open, Elina Svitolina revealed that she talks to herself to lift her game in crucial moments of a match. On being asked whether if she ever feels nervous on the court, Svitolina responded:
"For sure, there's thoughts coming in, but is normal. We are humans. We are thinking about the worst scenario sometimes, and it happens. But you have to work with them, not even try to block them. I try to really work with them."
Playing at the US Open as the 26th seed, she weighed in on the process of putting the negative thoughts away.
"Okay, somewhere you have a voice telling you, 'Oh, you're going to lose maybe'. But then you have to convince yourself, you have to speak to yourself. I speak to myself, I convince myself that I got this. I'm confident in my serve, confident in my return, my shots," she said during the post-match press conference.
In April this year, Elina Svitolina returned to competitive tennis after more than 12 months. Since her comeback, she has managed to make it to the knockout stages of two Grand Slams - a quarterfinal finish at the French Open and a semifinal appearance at Wimbledon.