ENTREVUE : Elina Svitolina (d. Bencic) (EN)

Thursday, August 8, 2019
E. SVITOLINA/B. Bencic
6-2, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. With how difficult Belinda is to play, especially the first two times that you played her in the Dubai match this year, the relief that you had on that fifth match point spoke to how satisfied you were to get this win and to get it 6-2, 6-4 like you did today.

ELINA SVITOLINA: Yeah, I think for the past matches, a little bit unlucky on the match points, you know. It takes me some time to close it out.

But I think she played unbelievable in the end. She just went for it and everything was going in. It was a tricky one, but I’m happy that I could stay positive in the end and get the win.

Q. It was definitely tougher than it looked in the score. How did you stay mentally strong during the rain delay, the ankle, all those match points?

ELINA SVITOLINA: Yeah, today was a lot going on. You know, we had to stop. I didn’t know if it would benefit my ankle or not because, you know, sometimes it can swell. But in the end, I was happy that it didn’t, and I was feeling actually better.

And, yeah, I had to adjust. And tennis is about adjusting, and I did it today. And, yeah, it was — actually on the court was feeling better.

And I have to adjust for my next match, and obviously it’s important one and have to be ready.

Q. Just speaking of the ankle, since the match has been over, is it responding well to treatment and are you concerned at all for tomorrow?

ELINA SVITOLINA: Well, definitely tomorrow is going to be a bit sore, I think, but I have to take it. I have no other choice.

The WTA physios are doing their best, and I’m very thankful, because they’re very, very, very good with what I have to do.

And, yeah, it’s fine for now. And we’ll see how it goes. But tomorrow is another day, it’s a new day. So I’ll try to do everything what is in my power to recover and be ready.

Q. On other good note, how excited were you with how the JetSetter shoot went with you and Gaël? And how has his Ukrainian progressed in terms of him being able to understand that interview?

ELINA SVITOLINA: Well, yeah, it was quite fun, I think. It was something different that we did together, and that’s why it was, I think, fun.

Gaël was not so pumped because it was very early in the day, because this day we had to fly to Odessa. So, you know, I was very — yeah, I was a bit worried that he’s not going to do it because it was, like, at 8:00 in the morning.

But in the end, you know, he slept most of the shoot, and then we took him for like 10, 15 minutes. And the photos looks good, though. He’s not so sleepy there.

Q. Has your French improved since you’ve been dating Gaël?

ELINA SVITOLINA: Yeah, definitely it’s improved, because sometimes he’s talking only in French to me. And, yeah, it’s like we have some French lesson almost each evening. So it’s improving.

And I’ve been learning for long time, and I’m more comfortable now to talk. So probably I have to say thank you to him.

Q. Speaking of thank you, your fans enjoy GEMS Life quite a bit. Who was the inspiration behind that?

ELINA SVITOLINA: Well, it was his idea to do this, and I think it’s going good so far. We are just chattering with people.

And there’s lots of things going on when we are playing in the tournaments and, you know, like with this photo shoot, or some activity that we do together like we did for Wilson, like some stuff going on.

So I think it’s nice to share, nice to — yeah, to just share our life. And now, these days, social media is such a big thing, and there’s lots of stuff going on. And I think can be fun that people see what goes behind the scenes.

Q. You have Sofia Kenin next. She’s scored some good wins this year over Serena at Roland Garros and then Ash here. So how much do you know about her, what do you expect from her game? And then secondly, how pleased are you in terms of being able to get through these two matches? You’ve had little niggles here and there with the back in the first one and then now the ankle, but to come through it has to give you some confidence.

ELINA SVITOLINA: Yeah, every day something new comes up. So it’s been very, very interesting life here in Toronto. Yeah, I just try to recover and be ready.

I played against her in Indian Wells and didn’t know much about her game. So now we’ve seen a lot of matches of hers because she’s been winning a lot and playing some great tennis.

So it’s going to be another tough battle. And I will try to be physically ready and mentally just be there and try to earn my chances. And, yeah, just play my game.

Q. It seemed that you were satisfied with how the Avengers End Game movie ended when you mentioned a quote about « We won, Mr. Stark » earlier in the year. What is your favorite Marvel movie and how you felt about the Avengers? Sorry for anybody that didn’t watch it.

ELINA SVITOLINA: Well, the people now, they had time to watch. It’s been, like, a while now.

I mean, it was not the best idea to do the post I did on Instagram the day after it was released. So it was not so smart of me.

But before start dating Gaël, I didn’t know anything about Avengers. He’s a big fan, so I had to watch everything. You know, it’s mind blowing.

Well, I didn’t know anything about it. So now I know almost pretty much everything, so yeah.