Elina Svitolina said she decided to give her body a rest after pregnancy and not having “any motivation to train” was also one of the reasons.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine started, Svitolina appeared in three more tournaments but she was evidently very affected by what was happening in her country.
Following her exit from the 2022 Miami Open, Svitolina announced an indefinite break from tennis.
In May, Svitolina announced she and her husband Gael Monfils were expecting their first child to be born in 2022.
“In fact, I was lucky. I expected the worst, especially given the fact that during my pregnancy I did not exercise at all in order to give my body a rest. One of the reasons I didn’t have any motivation to train was the war itself. For the first two months of the full-scale invasion, I was still performing. However, it was difficult for me to mentally focus as my family was still in Ukraine. So later, when I was physically resting, I spent that time coping with the emotions caused by the war,” Svitolina told Kyiv Post.
Svitolina set to return
After giving birth in October, Svitolina rested for two more weeks and then started building up her fitness.
“And although I actually had to build up my muscles from scratch, two weeks after giving birth, I got back to my usual fitness level. And after another three months, I began to gradually return to training. I am currently in Monaco with my coaching staff, and we are preparing for competition in April. Still, tennis presents a very busy schedule, so it is important for me to monitor my physical condition so as not to overload myself. During my time outside of competition, I organized fundraising events in order to help out. This took a toll on my health as well, but I want to keep helping, so I have to prioritize my health so that I can do more in the future,” Svitolina said.
Svitolina is returning to action next week as she is set to compete at a clay-court event in Charleston.
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