AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 21, 2026

Elina Svitolina

Press Conference

E. SVITOLINA/L. Klimovicova

7-5, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Congrats on the win. How does it feel to be through to the third round again?

ELINA SVITOLINA: Yeah, very happy. Good start of the year. For sure, you know, it's tricky first set, but then I was feeling pretty well out there. Nice to be through again.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Just talking about the end of the first set, obviously it was pretty even up until you got the break and then served for the set. Just talk about how you kind of approached getting to 6-5 and then taking the first set.

ELINA SVITOLINA: Well, I was expecting kind of a tough, you know, first set and then was expecting her to play well. Obviously young players, you know, they come out always firing winners and really motivated.

You know, you need to be tough there and try to use the experience and try to stay in the match, try to, you know, dig deep and try to just win that first set.

Then it gets, I think, a bit easier if you play well. So it was nice to, yeah, get that.

Q. You took off a bunch of time at the end of the last season, and you talked about how you were sort of burned out. Were you physically worn down, as well, in addition to...

ELINA SVITOLINA: End of last year, you're saying?

Q. Yeah, with the break that you took. Was that both physical and sort of mental?

ELINA SVITOLINA: It was more mental, I would say. 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 part, it was something that I was more, like, checked out a little bit. So, yeah, I mean, sometimes you need a little bit to step back and try to stay away from it and, yeah, just try to regroup and be, again, back with new energy.

Q. How much different do you feel being out here now than you did in August and September? Do you feel like sort of a different person, a different player? Do you think that break is the reason you're playing so well right now?

ELINA SVITOLINA: Yeah, for sure. I mean, if I would push myself to finish the year, really force myself, I don't think I would start the season even playing in Australia, because I would be really dead mentally.

Physically I'm not even sure that it would be a good option for me, because I might get injured in this kind of mental state, because when you push yourself and you play in the highest level with my game of style, it's really pushing the limits.

So for me, it was important to just step back. Of course, you know, I was sad that I didn't give myself a chance to get maybe in the Finals or maybe get back in top 10, but this was, you know, the right choice that I did.

I can see now that I'm more refreshed. I'm ready to face difficult situation in the matches, and I think the matches that I had in Auckland and couple of here, when I face difficult situation, 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.

Q. Did you watch any of Oliynykova's match yesterday against Madison Keys?

ELINA SVITOLINA: Unfortunately, I watched maybe just a couple of points, because I was training during this time.

Q. I'm curious what you make about her style of play, because it's so rare these days to have players coming up with such unusual, unorthodox kind of game. What do you make of that?

ELINA SVITOLINA: Yeah, for sure. She brings different look to the game. I think we have couple of players like that. It's always interesting, you know, the way that they play, the way that they create the game.

It's definitely very impressive for her to start her first Grand Slam, you know, playing good in her own way. Very tricky. For sure, you know, I think on clay she will be very tricky to beat, and you will really need to work hard to do that.

Q. On Oliynykova again, after her match, she said that she didn't think it was right that Russian and Belarusian players are allowed to compete in this tournament or international tennis tournaments, given that they're not allowed to compete in other tournaments in other international sports. What do you make of that? Is that something you agree with?

ELINA SVITOLINA: Well, the war has been ongoing for four years. I mean, we talked about it many, many times.

Yeah, for me, now it's gone, the topic. I mean, the stand has been taken already. Decision has been made by WTA, ATP. Right now what we can do is go out there, try to perform well, try to represent our country in the right way, 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.