“Maybe next time I’ll be lucky with Roland Garros”

Ukraine’s first racket Elina Svitolina in the Roland Garros quarterfinals lost in straight sets to Argentina’s representative Nadia Podoroska. The tennis player commented on her defeat.

«It was a difficult match for me. Many things did not work in my favor. I wish I could handle the game a little differently. But frankly, Podoroska had a great match. How did your opponent surprise me? Nadia has a very good rotation, she moves quite well too. Today my punches and concentration on my actions were limping. There were many factors that prevented me from concentrating properly. Psychologically, I didn’t show myself 100% and it really bothered me.

I couldn’t face the conditions and improve myself, start playing better. It was hard to stay focused, I think this thought that I couldn’t serve well got a bit dull. Maybe I focused too much on the negative. It was difficult to concentrate and I did not perform as I would like. It happened, of course, I am very upset, but what can I do now. For some reason, today it was not very convenient for me to play: my opponent has some slow shots, but there is rotation, more wind. The balls flew from her without some force, but with an awkward rotation and it was difficult to adapt to her. She also threw me great in the corners. In the end, she simply lost her level of play and gave her a chance to show good tennis.

I think it was one of those days where you are too hard on yourself and you choose only negative things and think about them. I think it is important to find something positive. I’ve been in such a situation many times, but today, sadly, I was thinking about too many things, the wind and everything that made my concentration drop. Nadia didn’t give me many opportunities to fully return to the game either. In the second set I played much better, but I didn’t take the opportunity I had. I think this happened precisely because I was not focused on the 100.

I will have to dismantle everything in small details, try to understand what was the reason. Especially when it was the quarterfinals, which certainly bothers me a lot, this is a very difficult moment. But I’ve often been in this situation, especially at Roland Garros. I’m out of luck, maybe next time I’ll be lucky, I’ll come back and next time I’ll be stronger and try to give myself that opportunity again and play better in this situation.

What are my future plans? I’m leaving Paris immediately, I already have tickets. So far, I plan to play in a tournament in Ostrava. I have minor health problems, so I need to physically recover first. Let’s see how the recovery goes.

Overall, I’m glad I missed the tough tournaments and immediately started playing on clay. Otherwise, I would not have felt so physically safe. At the moment, it is important for me to regain my physical condition. I had the opportunity to play well here, but it already happened, sure, it’s a shame“, – said Svitolina.