By Mike McIntyre
Photos Jimmie48 Tennis Photography
Elina Svitolina wants to play Serena Williams again. Not just to say that she faced the legendary American player on more than one occasion or that she held her own against her. The current world No. 4 wants to play Serena again to see how her game has changed since the last time they faced each other in that stunning upset at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and to see what the 23 time Grand Slam champion has added to her repertoire.
"It’s going to be very exciting to see her back on court," Svitolina told me when we met earlier this Spring. "Definitely I want to play against her, I want to see how things are gonna go this time because the last time we played it was in Rio so it was a different situation. I think she can come back at the same level she was at before. Also there will be something new from her, that’s what I’m expecting - even for her."
Svitolina is clearly a student of the game who is eager to learn from the champions that came before her. She laments the retirement of some of the greatest players that filled the era just before she joined the professional ranks, like Li Na and Kim Clijsters for example. It isn't enough for the talented Ukrainian to simply watch their matches on film, she wishes she could have experienced what made them great first-hand.
"Just, you know, to feel the speed of the ball, to see the way they are playing, building the point. I really like the style of their games. Of the way they were presenting their games. I learned a lot from both of them. Of course we can see it on TV, but when you play against them it’s completely different, what they do in the important moments. I would definitely want to play against them."
Svitolina will have to make do with facing the current crop of athletes on the professional circuit who would all love to have the success of those players mentioned above. Svitolina has clearly been taking steps in the right direction to get there.
It was roughly a year ago in Rome where she served notice that she was a legitimate presence who was ready to join and remain among the elite players on the tour. Overall 2017 was a coming-out party for the Ukrainian as she captured five WTA titles that began when she won in Taipei. Svitolina then made it consecutive tournament victories for the first time in her career when she also took the next event she entered in Dubai.
After those hard court successes, Svitolina proved she can do it on clay as well with a title in Istanbul. It was in Rome however at the Italian Open where she defeated three high quality players in-a-row to emerge with the title - defeating Karolina Pliskova, Garbine Muguruza and Simona Halep - to truly assert herself.
Fast forward a year and Svitolina repeated her success at the Italian Open just last week. She easily won her first match against Petra Martic before finding herself down 0-6 against Daria Kasatkina in the next round. Svitolina dug deep and pulled-off the 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory to advance to the quarter-finals. There she beat Angie Kerber before taking-out Anett Kontaveit to reach the finals once again. In the finals Svitolina faced current World No.1 Simona Halep and defeated her by a surprisingly quick score of 6-0, 6-4 to successfully defend her title in Rome and remind everyone that she should be included in the contender category as we prepare for Roland Garros.
Speaking of the upcoming Grand Slam, one match that Svitolina wasn't afraid to discuss with me when we talked was her collapse in the quarter-finals of last year's French Open where she was up a set and 5-1 in the second frame (with a match point as well) against Halep before she fell apart and was defeated 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-0. I didn't even have to ask Svitolina about that match myself as she took control of our interview and directed our conversation directly towards the potentially awkward subject. She is not one to shy-away from those difficult moments, but rather sees them as a learning experience as part of the process she needs to go through to become a champion.
"Of course there was some very disappointing matches that I lost in the Grand Slams that I was very close to go through but unfortunately I didn’t do it. In Roland Garros I was very, very close to go to the semi-final. But this is tennis and this is the way it goes. Sometimes you have to lose those kind of matches to learn and to move forward."
Svitolina certainly appeared to move forward from the missed opportunity at a first Grand Slam title in Paris. She exacted revenge on Halep later that summer in Toronto where she thrashed the Romanian 6-1, 6-1 in the semis of the Rogers Cup before taking down Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-0 in the finals. Pretty impressive score lines against the current No. 1 and No. 2 in the world.
Svitolina lays claim to a winning record against the three players who are ahead of her in the WTA rankings - including the two players mentioned above and No. 3 Garbine Muguruza, which bodes well for her future chances of taking over the top spot. When I asked her which player she most wanted to beat among her fellow competition, Svitolina without hesitation mentioned a player who many would not have guessed. Her memories of what's going on in the sport and the losses that she has incurred are so sharp that she mentioned Aga Radwanska as the one she most relishes playing again. "That’s the player that I want to play because I think I lost to her the last time that we played like two years ago." The Polish veteran leads their career head-to-head 4-0 and Svitolina clearly wants to correct that injustice.
Aside from drawing inspiration from past losses on the tennis court, Svitolina also takes strength and motivation from other sports - and in particular boxing.
"I really like that sport as a workout. I always try to go to the boxing club and it’s good for my mind. I just enjoy that sport, enjoy watching it. When I was growing up in Ukraine the Klitschko brothers were very famous. They in one way, at some point really inspired me to go for more, to achieve something that you know, probably I would not ever have in my mind as a goal."
The goals are plenty now for Svitolina and they all seem very much in reach due to her studious and self-reflecting approach to the game. She never stops learning and isn't afraid to look in the mirror to help progress towards Grand Slam success. At the rate she is moving forward, one of these days when she looks there, she will very likely be holding up her first major trophy.
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