"Something new in my game, I'm motivated like never before" - Elina Svitolina on how pregnancy has changed her tennis

Former World No. 3 Elina Svitolina recently revealed how pregnancy has changed her tennis following her second-round victory at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.

Svitolina announced that she was pregnant back in May 2022, following which the Ukrainian star and her husband, Gael Monfils, welcomed their daughter, Skai, on October 15, 2022.

She returned to the Grand Slam circuit at the French Open earlier this year, where she lost in the quarterfinals to Aryna Sabalenka. She is currently competing at Wimbledon, and needless to say, her performance is outstanding so far.

The former World No. 3 defeated five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams to advance to the second round, where she faced Elise Mertens. The 28-year-old had a tough time defeating the Belgian but eventually did so with a scoreline of 6-1, 1-6, 6-1.

Following the match, Elina Svitolina attended a press conference and discussed how her tennis has evolved since her comeback. She stated that when she first returned to the tour, she didn't put too much pressure on herself.

Even when she wasn't winning matches, she gave herself some time, after which her form improved gradually.

"I just try to not be so hard on myself when I was not winning so many matches. I knew that I was playing the right way. Just few points I was not playing aggressive, I was not, you know, taking so much risk," Svitolina said.

"And now everything is back to good, and I'm feeling that I'm in a good form right now. Since Strasbourg I have been striking the ball really well and feeling really well," she added.

Elina Svitolina further added that her mindset is very fresh post-pregnancy, causing her to be motivated like never before.

"I cannot compare it to what it was before the pregnancy. Now is very different. It's like something new in my game. Also my mindset is very fresh now, I'm really motivated like never before. Yeah, just happy with where I am right now," she said.

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Elina Svitolina will face Sofia Kenin in the third round

Elina Svitolina pictured at the 2023 French Open - Day Eight.

Elina Svitolina is now set to face Sofia Kenin in the third round of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships. Kenin, a former Australian Open champion, advanced through qualifying and caused an upset by defeating seventh seed Coco Gauff in the opening round and then continued her winning streak by outlasting China's Wang Xinyu.

Speaking about her upcoming opponent, Svitolina recalled the previous matches they had played and said that each one of those matches had been extremely tough.

"We played couple of times, more than three times, as I remember right now. I think last time maybe was in Shenzhen. It was a tough match. Every match that we played together were quite close matches," she said.

The Ukrainian then admitted that their coming encounter will also be tough for her, but she is looking forward to it.

"Yeah, she's back playing and, you know, is going to be another tough match for me. So I will just recover and I think we are scheduled to play tomorrow. So looking forward to this battle," Elina Svitolina said.