Svitolina Admits To Physical Struggles After US Open Exit

Sunday, 03 September 2023 at 12:45

byErik Virostko

Elina Svitolina is out of the 2023 US Open, and even though it's certainly a disappointing result for her, she can look ahead.

The Ukrainian returned to the WTA Tour only recently, after she made a comeback after a pregnancy. Almost immediately, Svitolina started winning again and showing the level that she once possessed.

After overcoming an early challenge from Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the Ukrainian took on the third-seeded Jessica Pegula, and this time around, it was a losing effort from Svitolina who was eliminated after three sets.

After the match, during her press conference, the Ukrainian admitted that she was struggling physically but also gave credit to her opponent, who played on a great level in the third set, winning it 6-3 to advance.

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"I was a bit struggling also physically, was not as fresh as the matches before. Yeah, just mixture of everything. She strikes the ball well, important points, and served really well, as well. I couldn't match today her level, even though it was three sets. But I felt like in the third set, she stepped up and I couldn't be there."

However, despite the exit, Svitolina feels like she can be competitive even against players from the Top 10 in the WTA Rankings. Pegula was one of them and even though she couldn't win the match, she took it at least to the third set.

"But I feel like I'm there, competitive against top players. Played well, good matches. I'm happy with my level. I just want to take some time off right now to recover physically and go again. When I'm physically fit, I can really challenge these players, and the ranking will come."

Now, the Ukrainian will want to recover, but especially see her daughter and spend some time with her family.

"I just really want to take time to recover. I didn't see my daughter for long time now, so I really looking forward to go back home. Yeah, just going to go from there. I'm happy with the couple of months that I had right now. I want to continue doing that, but to do that I need to be healthy."