Elina Svitolina – Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Very well done. Can you talk us through the match.

ELINA SVITOLINA: Good start. Then I was struggling a bit. I think it was just something in my head. I was just somewhere not on the court.

Was really happy that I could find a way to start third set well. Okay, 2-0 down but still I felt that I’m getting there.

So it was a good start, but I needed to go through tough time and tough opponent today, because she was feeling really confident after winning second set.

Q. How easy is it to absorb the hard hitting? She does hit the ball ferociously.

ELINA SVITOLINA: Yeah, but you need to be ready for these hits. You need to react fast. If you do that, then sometimes she overpush, and like it was yesterday or today, you know, I was reacting fast, and after my serve or return was blocking it. So this was the key, you know, to chase every ball to let her push even harder. So that was the key today.

Q. I apologize if you’ve spoken about this earlier in the week, but can you explain the linkup having Iain there and having Justine there?

ELINA SVITOLINA: Yes. Well, teamwork, we work together. It’s not only about her. It’s all together, you know. My coach, he’s more technical, technical part, and she’s more mental, I think.

Q. Motivational?

ELINA SVITOLINA: Yeah. But is just, for me, for now they complete all the things which I need.

Q. Some players that had two coaches say that it’s tricky having two voices maybe telling you different things. That’s not the case?

ELINA SVITOLINA: But I think that they need to speak before they speak to me, to don’t go both different ways.

But that’s how it’s going now with me, that they speak together first and then they come up with a common decision or opinion.

Of course Justine, she’s sharing her experience when she was a player, and of course my coach he’s looking from a different side. That’s why, for me, that’s so important.

Q. Your relationship with Justine, where did that begin? Where does that go back to?

ELINA SVITOLINA: I met her first time in her academy in Belgium after winning Roland Garros juniors. And then, you know, she’s seven times a Grand Slam champion, so she was always on my mind and I was — you know, she had amazing game.

She was not that tall, so, you know, there was always some things which I was trying to take from her. Yeah, it’s just amazing that she accepted.

Q. Were you at her academy?

ELINA SVITOLINA: Yeah. I was for two years, from 15 to, you know, to 17, 18. Two-and-a-half, maybe.