© Getty Images Sport – Julian Finney
Elina Svitolina said she got “a shooting pain” in the first game that “completely locked” her back after an absolutely heartbreaking and devastating end to her Australian Open campaign.
Svitolina, seeded at No. 19, clashed against Czech teenager Linda Noskova in the Australian Open round-of-16. But early in the match, Svitolina appeared to sustain a back injury that was clearly hampering her in major ways.
After getting broken in the first game of the match, Svitolina also suffered a break in the third game. Down 0-3 to Noskova and having a hard time just moving on the court and serving the ball, Svitolina retired the match.
For Svitolina, it was an absolutely heartbreaking end as the 29-year-old Ukrainian left the court in tears. After the match, Svitolina explained “a very sad” situation that happened on the court.
“I got a spasm, or I don’t know exactly what it is, but like shooting pain in the first game, the last two points. Yeah, couldn’t do anything. Completely locked my back. Just very sad, of course,” Svitolina said after the match.
Svitolina: This was really out of nowhere
Svitolina looked outstanding on the court in her opening three matches, clinching three straight-set wins. But against Noskova, it went terribly wrong for Svitolina, who saw her run end in moments after her back completely locked and prevented her from competing.
After the match, Svitolina confirmed that she did feel a certain stiffness before the match. But Svitolina described it as “quite normal” and not as anything that she was finding as strange or particularly worrisome.
“I felt little bit, but it’s quite normal. Been playing some tennis in this tournament already. You know, fourth round, you have a little bit stiffness somewhere,” Svitolina said.
“Nothing really special. Like not a big issue before. Yeah, this one I think I never had that before, the shooting pain like this. I had some injuries to my back before where it just was tiredness the next day of the match, but this one was really out of nowhere. I felt like someone shot me in the back.”
Svitolina was in pain after the match
Even after retiring the match, Svitolina was still in pain and struggling to do basic activities such as walking and turning sideways.
“Bad, yeah. It really locked. My low back completely locked. So, yeah, I’m really in pain even walking, turning. I cannot move side-to-side. Yeah, very strange,” Svitolina said.
Svitolina, who launched her post-pregnancy comeback in April, was looking great on the court in the first week of the Australian Open. After the draw opened up for Svitolina, many thought the Ukrainian had a real shot at becoming a Grand Slam champion at Melbourne Park.
But then, Svitolina suffered a major blow and her hopes of lifting a maiden Grand Slam title in Melbourne ended. Afterward, Svitolina was pretty candid when asked to list what stood out for her during the tournament.
“Well, in a bad way stood out for me the shooting pain (laughing), but I had good matches here. I was in good form. That’s why it’s even more disappointing,” Svitolina said.
“It’s tough now to find positives really, but I feel like I had good matches, good wins, and I enjoyed my time on the court. Not today, unfortunately, but the matches before I did really.”
Svitolina ‘proud’ of what she has done since returning
After being sidelined for 13 months and giving birth, it didn’t take long before Svitolina started winning again and making notable results. After winning Strasbourg in May and reaching the French Open quarterfinal, Svitolina was also a semifinalist at Wimbledon.
At the start of this season, Svitolina finished as runner-up to Coco Gauff in the Auckland final and looked primed for a really deep Australian Open run before the unfortunate injury happened. Reflecting on the past several months, Svitolina is “proud” of the work she has done and reveals she is especially proud with how she has been dealing with stressful situations.
“I’m proud of the work and of the situation, stressful situations, and how I’ve been handling them on the court because this was the most I would say difficult for me as a comeback,” Svitolina said.
“I was at the beginning not dealing really well with the stressful situations like the score-wise. Now I feel like I’m much better. I’ve been playing good matches, beating good players. I feel like I’m at a good place and been playing really well when I was down.”
In her press conference, Svitolina said she now needs to get her back injury checked. For Svitolina, the hope remains that it’s just a minor injury that won’t require much time away and that she will be able to practice again in a week. It remains to be seen if Svitolina will be ready to return to action in February.
