"I'm not in a good state of mind to reply to these questions" - Ukrainian Elina Svitolina unconcerned about Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka winning Wimbledon
Elina Svitolina is unconcerned about the prospect of Aryna Sabalenka winning the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.
Ukrainian Svitolina and Belarusian Sabalenka have been involved in an interesting battle on the WTA Tour over the past year. Belarus aiding Russia in its invasion of Ukraine has seen players from the two nations come under added security.
While Svitolina has consistently called for the authorities to take action against Russian and Belarusian players in response to the war, Sabalenka has refused to openly speak out against her country or the conflict.
On Thursday, July 13, Svitolina took on Marketa Vondrousova at SW19 with a place in the final on the line, where she had the possibility of facing Sabalenka. Despite appearing to be in good form, she failed to trouble the Czech player and lost the match 6-3, 6-3.
In her post-match press conference, Svitolina was asked about the prospect of the Princess of Wales, Catherine Middleton, handing over the Venus Rosewater dish to Sabalenka. The 28-year-old stated that she was too upset with the defeat to think of that, before adding that she regrets not being able to deny the World No. 2 her maiden grass Slam title:
"To be fair, I didn't really think about this at all. Right now I'm not in a good state of mind to reply to these questions. I will not be here. Yeah, I'm just upset that I'm not playing and not taking that trophy from her."
The World No. 76 also admitted that the burden of expectations from representing Ukraine at the highest stages has been a little daunting for her:
"For sure it's a big motivation, but as you mentioned, it's a lot of responsibility, a lot of tension. I try to balance it as much as I can. But, yeah, sometimes it gets maybe too much."
She added:
"But I don't want to take it as an excuse that I lost today. I try to take it as a motivation for me. I just hope that Ukrainian people continue supporting me. It was really amazing. And, yeah, just hope that I'm going to get another chance."
Elina Svitolna admits its "tough to believe" that she contested a Grand Slam semifinal
Elina Svitolina recently spent considerable time away from the WTA Tour on maternity leave. She gave birth to her daughter, Skaï, last October and returned to action in April this year.
She had her comeback at the Charleston Open, where she made a first-round exit. She couldn't do any better at two ITF events in Switzerland and Portugal, and then the Madrid Open.
At the L'Open 35 de Saint-Malo, however, she put together a semifinal run before claiming victory at the Strasbourg Grand Prix. The 28-year-old has replicated her form at the Majors too. She reached the quarterfinals of the French Open and went one step further at Wimbledon.
Looking back at her rapid return to form, Svitolina admitted that it's tough to believe how quickly she has settled back on the WTA Tour. She said:
"It would be tough to believe. But right now just really upset that I couldn't go further to play in the final."