It is often a hackneyed topic of conversation within the women’s circuit. For better or worse, motherhood is a potentially crucial part of a woman’s life, and there are quite a few female players WTA who have stopped their professional activity to give birth and be madre of a beautiful creature. It is also common for many of these tennis players to return to the courts some time later: the bug has not yet been completely satisfied, they feel fully competitive and conceive tennis in a different way, with greater maturity and the feeling of giving a “second life” to their career.
Nowadays, the number of players who have already become mothers is growing ever larger. Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki…and, among them, possibly the one who best and fastest returned to a sensational level after motherhood: Elina SvitolinaThe Ukrainian, who added to her personal circumstances the invasion of her country by Russia, rose to the occasion in the face of adversity last year and has maintained a hellish pace after giving birth to Leatherettewho has been her concern for several weeks this year, as has her husband and also tennis player Gaël Monfils. But is there a secret to getting back to your best level after the mark that motherhood leaves on you? Is it possible to get back to the top? She herself, after debuting with a victory in the WTA Toronto 2024answers this question in a very interesting way Press conference.
“Getting back to my best form was a process that took months and months. The sensations you experience during a match are very different from those in training: you may have felt very good in training, but when you go to play in a big tournament, there is a lot of stress and a lot of pressure, the emotions are completely different.
For me, That was the hardest part of all. I felt very good in training, but I needed some time to be focused from the beginning to the end of the match. We played at a very high level, each player is very tough and you need to stay focused for two or three hours. That was the biggest battle for me. Also the footwork It is very important, but there comes a time when you feel that everything clicks and you play much better, you stop thinking about all that and you think that you are just another player who is looking, like everyone else, to win.”
It is not surprising, then, that Elina describes all the mothers on the circuit as “a great inspiration.” She herself confesses that she regularly speaks with names like Osaka, Kerber or Wozniacki, having “Small conversations” about her children, stressing how useful it is to be able to connect with tennis players who have experienced the same thing as her. “Everyone has a different story, but it’s great to see that we’re motivated and we push each other. Everything we do is a great inspiration, not only for tennis, but for sport in general. I feel like women have a lot more options to do all this nowadays. We try to motivate women to come back and keep forging their way.”
CHANGES IN HIS TEAM AND AFTER COMPETING IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES
It’s a special moment of the season for Svitolina: in Toronto she was able to win the title seven years agoand is aware of the huge Ukrainian community living in the North American city. “I love playing here. It seems incredible that it’s been seven years, it feels like only a couple (laughs). Coming here after the Games is a challenge, but the fact that so many fans come to watch you and the atmosphere is amazing makes that transition much easier. I’m very grateful to the Canadian government for everything they’ve done to help Ukrainian refugees.”
Svitolina ended her press conference by confirming the return of an old acquaintance. It is Andrew Bettlesformer coach of the Ukrainian, who has returned to form part of her team, confirmed by herself: “We’re trying again (laughs). It’s very different to when we worked together three or four years ago, but we have great memories. We had five very successful years, so when I stopped working with my former coach, it was an easy decision to make. It’s not easy to change in the middle of the year, but I had a chat with Andy and we decided to try again.”. Their next challenge, by the way, is full of symbolism: a Ukrainian derby against Marta Kostyuk. Almost nothing.
2024-08-07 13:52:29
#return #tennis #mother #Elina #Svitolina
