Svitolina to return to competition next month in Charleston
The Ukrainian has been absent from the tennis courts for a year due to the war in her country and pregnancy
Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, former world No.3 absent from the tennis courts for a year due to war in her country and pregnancy, will return to competition next month at the WTA 500 tournament in Charleston, South Carolina (April 3-9), the WTA announced on Friday. Aged 28, Svitolina, wife of French tennis player Gaël Monfils and father of a little Skaï, her first child born in mid-October, played her last match in Miami, beaten as soon as she entered the running by Briton Heather Watson on 24 March of last year.
She then put her career on hold, citing psychological difficulties linked to the war that Russia is waging against her country – she demanded very soon after the outbreak of the conflict the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian players then expressed the anguish of the situation. “Mentally it’s exhausting to see all these terrible things happening to people, and not knowing what’s going to happen tomorrow or in an hour, it’s very scary.“, she confided in an interview granted to AFP in early May.
“The lawyer of her country in the wake of the Russian invasion”
“The former world No.3 will join five of the ten current Top 10 members at this renowned WTA tournament, having accepted an invitation to the main draw“, specifies the WTA on its site. “Ukraine’s most effective player used her maternity leave to advocate for her country in the wake of last year’s Russian invasion“, adds the WTA.
In partnership with the organizers of Charleston and the world bodies of women’s tennis, Svitolina will participate on the sidelines of the tournament in a charity event as part of the Tennis Plays for Peace operation aimed at raising funds for Ukraine and for the Foundation that ‘she created. “Raising awareness and fundraising for Ukraine is very important to us and our playersCharleston tournament director Bob Moran said in a statement.
“We are passionate about working with Elina, who has a deep and personal knowledge of the needs of her native country.“, he added. Elina Svitolina, who won 16 WTA tournaments and finished seven consecutive seasons in the world Top 20, fell to 875th in the world.
