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Elina Svitolina recently credited her husband Gael Monfils for motivating her on comeback to tennis after her pregnancy break. She also stated that the duo inspired each other's respective returns to action.
Monfils played for the first time in 2023 at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, after a six-month long injury lay-off (since last year's Canadian Open). Svitolina, meanwhile, made her comeback at the Charleston Open, her first match since last year's Miami Open.
After suffering a tight three-set loss to Yulia Putintseva in her opener in Charleston, the Ukrainian accepted a wildcard to the W60 ITF event in Chiasso, Switzerland. Speaking to ITFTennis.com during her time at the event, Svitolina revealed how she and Monfils prepared together over the winter to get themselves ready for the tennis tour once again.
Svitolina was all praise for her partner, with whom she welcomed a baby girl named Skai in October 2022, adding that it was important to have someone who understood your goals.
“This winter we both prepared ourselves to come back and compete and it was great because we motivated each other,” Elina Svitolina said. “It's important to have someone who understands your goals.”
The 28-year-old hopes to play well at the Italian Open in Rome, where she is a former two-time winner, and also at the French Open. As for specific goals, Elina Svitolina admitted that she did not have any apart from maintaining a certain level of tennis day in and day out.
“I love everything about that tournament. I will try to do well there and at Roland Garros," Svitolina said. "[As for ranking goals], my tennis has priority – the ranking will be a [result] of the level I can express.”
"The feeling of returning to the court in Charleston was fantastic" - Elina Svitolina
Elina Svitolina further stated that returning to the court in Charleston was "fantastic" and that she had missed that feeling. However, the Ukrainian wants to take it one tournament at a time and not think too far ahead.
"The feeling of returning to the court in Charleston was fantastic, I had missed it. Chiasso is a perfect tournament to play good matches and regain continuity, but I will take the tournament one match at a time," Elina Svitolina said.
“Since January I have been back in training with the goal of returning as soon as possible and I have been working on clay for two months knowing that most likely my first matches would coincide with this time of the season,” she added.
In Chiasso, Svitolina beat Elena-Gabriela Ruse in her opener. She will take on Alexandra Cadantu-Ignatik in the second round.
