Svitolina is refreshed after a mental health break and into Australian Open’s 3rd round

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Fresh from a mental health break at the end of last year, Elina Svitolina is through to the third round at the Australian Open and feeling rejuvenated.

The 12th-seeded Svitolina, who lost in the quarterfinals here last year to eventual champion Madison Keys, beat Linda Klimovicova 7-5, 6-1 on Wednesday and will next face No. 23 Diana Schnaider.

Her second win of the tournament was the morning after her husband Gael Monfils, a popular 39-year-old Frenchman, said his goodbye at Melbourne Park in his retirement year. She was courtside Tuesday when Monfils lost a first-round match to qualifier Dane Sweeny, ending his 20th Australian Open campaign.

The 31-year-old Svitolina, who has a three-year-old daughter named Skaï with Monfils, announced in late Septembe r that she was taking the rest of the year off.

A month earlier, the Ukrainian player had complained about hateful online abuse from frustrated gamblers after losing a match in Canada.

“It was more mental, I would say,” Svitolina said Wednesday, reflecting on the reasons she needed time out from the tennis tour. “Physical, of course, I mean, with the many months of playing high intensity, of course you get a little bit worn down.

“But I think mental, it was something that I was more, like, checked out a little bit. Sometimes you need a little bit to step back and try to stay away from it and just try to regroup and be, again, back with new energy.”

The break was ideal. She arrived at Melbourne Park last week after winning a tournament in Auckland, New Zealand, her 19th WTA Tour title.

“I can see now that I’m more refreshed,” she said. “I’m ready to face difficult situations in the matches, and I think the matches that I had in Auckland and couple of here, when I face difficult situations, I’m ready to accept that sometimes things are not going your way, and you have to fight, you have to dig deep and try to find a way to win.”

Another motivating factor in her resurgence is to continue bringing attention to the people of Ukraine since the invasion by Russia.

“To try to represent our country in the right way,” she said. “And use our voices to bring the attention, to bring the help, and to not forget that, you know, we can use our voices to bring the help, to bring the attention to our homeland.”

Svitolina has been ranked as high as No. 3 in the world, and has reached semifinals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, as well as three quarterfinals at the Australian Open.

Predictably, most of her conversations with Monfils over the next day will center around Svitolina’s next match on Friday against Schnaider.

“I mean, it’s difficult to escape and not talk about tennis because being both at such a high level and competing in the same tournament,” she said.

“Of course tennis is always a part of our life right now, but the years go on and I’m not sure how it’s going to be after — I’m sure we’re going to enjoy it as a family.”

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