Elina Svitolina won't be returning to the tennis courts this year anymore as she has decided to end her season early due to an injury.
Svitolina has been playing some really good tennis since returning from maternity leave. The Ukrainian has endured some really challenging years recently with the situation back home and the fact that she had to carry a baby during that testing time.
She's endured all of that, delivered a healthy baby as well, and just played superb tennis since coming back. She posted a solid 21-12 record last year but improved upon that this year, posting a 30-18 win-loss record until now, when she made the decision to end her season early.
She started well Down Under, making the ASB Classic final but losing to Coco Gauff. She then reached the fourth round of the Australian Open. Her next solid result came at Roland Garros, where she also made the fourth round.
She then had a solid grass season, making the Wimbledon quarter-final, before reaching the third round at the Olympics. While these results might not sound as impressive, considering her old resume, she’s generally overperformed.
"The Olympics went well. Unfortunately, I couldn't bring home a medal, but there were great victories. Did I manage to approach the Games at the peak of my form, given the injury? No, I didn't manage to do so at the peak."
Being able to come back and play as well as she did certainly boosted her legacy because it shows other players that it can be done. For a very long time, motherhood has been taboo in tennis, but more and more players are proving it's possible, and that's significant for the sport.
Her last event of 2024 will be the US Open, as that’s the last tournament she played before announcing that she will end her season. Svitolina played a competitive match against Coco Gauff, leading for much of it, but the American turned it around and won it in three sets.
Overall, it's been a really solid season for Svitolina, and while it's unfortunate that it's ending sooner than she had wanted, yet another injury made it so that pushing to get back didn’t make any sense.
"I had a good season, I already finished it because I got injured. To finish this year in the top 30 is a good result, considering that I was injured more [of the time] this season."
As a result, she will just take her time to recover and prepare for next season. It might be one of her last seasons on the WTA Tour because Svitolina already confirmed that she won’t be playing much into her thirties.
"I didn't play as I wanted in the following tournaments because I was injured. I wanted more, I wanted to play better. Now I will treat my injuries. I hope that I can start my next season better."
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