SVITOLINA: “I regret not giving myself the chance to compete for the WTA Finals”

Ukraine’s first racket Elina Svitolina She held a press conference after defeating Linda Klimovicheva in the second round of the 2026 Australian Open:

– Elina, congratulations on your victory. How does it feel to get to the third round again?

– Yes, I am very happy. This is certainly a good start to the year. The first set was not easy, but after that I felt quite confident on the court. It’s nice to get back on track.

– If we talk about the end of the first set; Everything was very smooth before the break, then you served in the set. How did you approach this moment with the score of 6:5?

“I expected the first set to be difficult, and I realized that my opponent would also play well. Young players usually come on the court very excited, they have beaten a lot of winners and are very motivated. At such moments you need to be patient, use your experience, stay in the match, “go deep” and try to take the first set. After that, if the game continues, it becomes a little easier. So it was good to get this set.”

– You took a break at the end of last season and said you were exhausted. Is it more physical fatigue or mental fatigue?

-More like mental. Physically, of course, you get tired after months of playing at a high level, but psychologically I was a bit “off”. Sometimes you need to take a step back, get away for a bit, to regroup and come back with renewed energy.

– How different do you feel now compared to August-September? Do you feel like a different player? Was that pause the reason you’re playing so well now?

– Without a doubt. If I had pushed myself to finish the season, I probably wouldn’t have started this year in Australia. I would be completely “dead” mentally and physically. In that mental state I could have gotten injured because when you push yourself and play at the highest level with my style of play, it really pushes you beyond your limits.

It was important for me to step back. Yes, I’m sorry I didn’t give myself a chance to compete for the Final Tournament or get back into the top 10, but it was the right decision. Now I feel fitter and ready for difficult situations during matches. And I think the games I had in Auckland a few years ago where I was faced with difficult situations showed me that I was willing to accept the fact that sometimes things don’t go to plan and you have to fight, dig deep and find a way to win.

– Did you watch Oleynikova’s match against Madison Keys yesterday?

– Unfortunately there were only a few draws because I was training at the time.

– What do you think of his playing style? It’s rare to see players playing such unconventional and unorthodox tennis these days.

– Yes, of course it brings something new to the game. There are several players of this type and it is always interesting to watch how they create games, how they create the game. It’s very impressive for him to start his first Grand Slam like this, playing well in his own way. This is very uncomfortable tennis. I think he will be a particularly difficult opponent on clay and you will have to work really hard to beat him.

– After the match, Oleinikova said that she found it wrong that Russian and Belarusian players were allowed to participate in tournaments while they were excluded from other sports. Do you agree with this?

– The war has been going on for four years. We’ve talked about this many times, and for me it’s already… gone away. The decisions have been made by the WTA and now we can just go out there and try to perform well, we can represent our country properly, we can use our voice to attract attention, we can help and remember, we can use our voice to draw attention to our homeland.