It was a big year for Elina Svitolina, who married fellow tennis star Gael Monfils and won an Olympic medal. She will start the next one in Adelaide
Elina Svitolina wants to make one thing clear before her exhausting 27-hour trip on Monday from Switzerland to Adelaide via Sydney.
No-one followed up on the Ukrainian tennis star’s initial specticism about the Covid-19 vaccine, meaning there were no reports about her being fully vaccinated way back in June.
The Victorian Government and Australian Open’s vaccine mandate remains a hot topic as the tennis summer prepares to start next week – but it’s no issue for 15th-ranked Svitolina.
“Even if they tell me that I have to get a third shot, I would be happy to do that, because I see now so many new cases – and lots of players,” Svitolina told News Corp.
“Lots of our friends are getting Covid, so it’s quite tough right now.”
Svitolina and her husband, French tennis player and former world No.6 Gael Monfils, plan to be in South Australia for two tournaments each and will be the top seed in three of the four combined.
Free of the quad injury that halted her bid to reach the WTA Finals for a fourth time, the 27-year-old is keen to test where she’s at against a bumper field that includes Ash Barty and eight of the top 10.
It will be the fun-loving Svitolina’s first trip to Adelaide but Monfils is familiar with the city after previously being coached by South Australian Roger Rasheed.
“It’s amazing to see so many good players signing to play from the beginning of the season,” she said.
“Everyone’s trying to be ready for the first (grand slam) tournament, for Melbourne, so it’s a really good field and it’s going to be really tough from the beginning of the tournament.
“There’s no time for adjustments – you have to be ready from the first round, mentally, physically, so this is very exciting, I think, for the tournament and for players as well.”
Svitolina, who broke into the top 10 in 2017 and kept her spot until October this year, made the US Open quarter-finals, won a title in Chicago and earned a singles bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
That Olympic medal was Ukraine’s first in tennis, so it had no competition as her on-court highlight for 2021, but her Swiss wedding in July topped everything else.
“It was a very special moment for me and Gael,” Svitolina said.
“That month was very busy, for both of us. We had our wedding and the next day we had to fly to Tokyo straightaway, so no big celebrations, but in the end it was very special.
“We shared this moment with our family and our close friends. It was a really small wedding and it was super special … definitely this moment will last forever in our memories.”
This news is republished from another source. You can check the original article here