Svitolina: It was important to stay in the game mentally and take advantage of your chances

The first racket of Ukraine Elina Svitolina commented on her victory over the Frenchwoman Diane Parry in the first round of the tournament WTA 500 in French Strasbourg.

“When I was in Strasbourg last year, it was truly a very special time for me. Then I was able to show my good tennis again and continue my excellent performances. The following months and tournaments in the summer were incredible for me. I am very happy to be here, to be on this center court, to play again in this wonderful atmosphere, with so many spectators. So for me it’s always a pleasure to come back here.”

“Strasbourg has always been the tournament where I would like to play. These competitions are part of the preparation for Roland Garros. So when I played here, I really enjoyed the atmosphere, which is very similar to what I had in Paris. For me it’s always part of my calendar, my preparation. And I’m very happy that I was able to win here twice, which adds even more to my mood.”

“As for this match, it was definitely a good level for the first match. Diane plays really well on clay, overall she performs great, she is still so young, of course she will still bring a lot of success for French tennis.”

“How did I react when I served for the match and lost my serve? Of course, it’s not very pleasant that I didn’t finish the match yesterday, that today we returned under different playing conditions, the ball flew a little faster, it took a little time to adapt to it. I just had to accept it and move on. Diane played two games really well, it wasn’t so easy for me, but in the end it was important to stay in the game mentally and take advantage of our chances.”

Let us remember that Svitolina beat 21-year-old Parry in two sets (6:3, 6:4), while the French tennis player offered decent resistance. In the second round, the strongest Ukrainian tennis player will meet with another representative of France, Clara Burel.

Svitolina in Strasbourg defends the championship title won last year. That triumph was the first for the Ukrainian after returning to the Tour. Elina paused her career due to pregnancy and the birth of her daughter. Previously, Svitolina won this tournament in 2020.

Let us remind you that earlier in Strasbourg Angelina Kalinina won her first round match. She managed to defeat the more rated “neutral” tennis player Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets.

Today Svitolina rose two places in the new WTA rankings, reaching 17th position.