Elina Svitolina reveals chats with ‘motivated’ WTA mums Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki
Elina Svitolina has revealed that she regularly speaks to fellow WTA Tour mums Naomi Osaka and Caroline Wozniacki – admitting that the mums on tour “push each other”.
Former world No 3 Svitolina is one of the high-profile mums on the WTA, having welcomed her daughter Skai in October 2022.
The Ukrainian is by no means the only mum in WTA action, with Osaka and Wozniacki among those to return to action post-motherhood.
And, speaking in Toronto at the Canadian Open, the 29-year-old revealed that she speaks regularly to the former world No 1’s – and several other mums in action.
She said: “Each person has a different story, but it’s great to see that we are motivated and push each other.
“Everything we do is a great inspiration, not just for tennis, but for sports in general. I feel that women have many more options to do all this nowadays.
“We try to motivate women to come back and keep paving their way.”
Svitolina is currently ranked 34th in the WTA Rankings but has been back inside the top 30 since her return last spring.
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The Ukrainian reached the French Open quarter-final and Wimbledon semi-final last year – again reaching the last eight at SW19 this year – and won the WTA 500 event in Strasbourg last May.
But despite a successful return, Svitolina – who is back working with former coach Andrew Bettles – conceded it was tough physically to come back.
“Returning to my best form was a process of months and months,” added the Ukrainian. “The feelings you experience during a match are very different from those in training.
“You may have felt very good during practice, but when you go to play a big tournament, there is a lot of stress and pressure, the emotions are completely different.
“For me, that was the toughest part. I felt very good training, but I needed some time to stay focused from start to finish of the match.
“We play at a very high level, every player is tough, and you need to maintain concentration for two or three hours. That was the biggest challenge for me.
“Also, footwork is very important, but there comes a moment when you feel that everything clicks and you play much better, you stop thinking about all that and you think you are just another player looking, like all others, to win.”
