(Paris) The Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, beaten as soon as she entered the Charleston tournament after a year of absence linked to the war in her country and then to her pregnancy, expressed her gratitude on Tuesday and promised to return.

“Thank you all for your lovely messages”, writes the ex-N. 3 World Tuesday on his Twitter account, with a lot of heart-shaped emojis.

“I really appreciate your support,” she adds, also thanking the organizers of the Charleston tournament.

“Thank you for this opportunity to return to your magnificent tournament and for your support of my foundation and the Ukrainian people. I’ll be back,” she said the day after losing to 47-ranked Kazakhstan player Yulia Putintseva.^e at the WTA, in three sets, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 6-4 and a little over 2 hours 45 minutes of play.

Aged 28, Svitolina had not played since her defeat at the Miami tournament on March 24, 2022, against Britain’s Heather Watson.

Svitolina, wife of French tennis player Gaël Monfils, had then put her career on hold, saying she was “mentally exhausted” and distressed by the war that Russia is waging on her country.

Released from the WTA rankings, Svitolina, who in the meantime has become the mother of a little Skai, her first child, born in mid-October, had received an invitation to access the main draw of the Charleston tournament.

She took advantage of this competition to participate in a charity event as part of the Tennis Plays for Peace operation aimed at raising funds for Ukraine and for the Foundation she created.

Elina Svitolina has won 16 WTA tournaments and finished seven consecutive seasons in the World Top 20.