LOOKING OUT FOR THE NEXT NO. 1
Svitolina and rivals learn more from losing than winning
Elina Svitolina has rocketed into the top five on the WTA tour and seems poised for a major breakthrough.
They do seem quite interchangeable, the elite women of tennis.
A colour wheel of blondes, many of them — tall blondes, shorter blondes, muscular blondes, strappy blondes, scrappy blondes, leggy blondes, slimmer blondes.
Hair caught up in swinging ponytails, speaking un-mother-tongue English with varied accents, a language most have picked up in their nomadic existence, pulling into one city after the next, week after week, scarcely realizing where they are.
Breaking through the barrier of flaxen anonymity — except for hardcore fans, who can easily tell a Pliskova from a Kvitova — is but one of the challenges on the helterskelter Women’s Tennis Association circuit, which has landed in Toronto this week. And this year, in the absence of an expectant Serena Williams, is the time to do it: Seize centre-court chops, a bit of media splash, a title, a Grand Slam lollapalooza at the U.S. Open just ’round the corner.
They’ve been scrambling all over each other on the rankings scale, No. 1 just peeled away from Germany’s Angelique Kerber, who’s looked lost since winning a brace of majors in 2016. Angelique, we hardly knew ya.
Naturally, they all dream of being number one. Karolina Pliskova just got there and was on a beach with her boyfriend when it happened — already chased off from Wimbledon, shockingly, in the second round but having amassed enough points to crest the pinnacle after No. 2 Simona Halep fell to Johanna Konta in the quarter-finals last month.
“It doesn’t matter how you get there, just that you get there,” Pliskova said at Monday’s launch of the Rogers Cup (distaff side). “Sometimes you don’t play and you move in the rankings. Sometimes you play your best match and you don’t move at all. It’s strange.”
So, that points tally has pulled Elina Svitolina up into No. 5, nosebleed territory. Although, like Pliskova, she’s never hoisted a Grand Slam trophy.
Not a household name yet, Svitolina, except maybe in her Ukraine homeland.
To some extent, too, in Britain, where the effervescent 22-year-old has attracted tabloid attention for dating cricketer Reece Topley.
Was bowled over by the studly Hampshire and England bowler when first she clapped eyes on him at a London gym, just before last summer’s Rogers Cup in Montreal. Quite charmingly, Svitolina admits she didn’t know the first thing about cricket — frankly, who does? — and thought it had something to do with a brush. (A broom, she meant, having confused cricket with curling in her blonde head.)
A paparazzi-worthy couple, if not at the heady Posh Spice and David Beckham level — except they’re so 15 years ago.
Both totally consumed by their respective sports, which take priority.
Svitolina is more likely to achieve boldface international recognition in her chosen profession, by and by. She only cracked the top 20 a couple of years ago, top 10 this season. And 22 is awful young still for a sport where flashy teenagers no longer dominate as they did in ’80s and ’90s. Pliskova is 25 and still a Grand Slam virgin.
In 2017, Svitolina has racked up WTA titles in Dubai, Taipei City and the Rome Open. Over the past couple of years, she’s defeated four No. 1s, including Williams and Kerber. At the French Open in June, such was her winning streak that she was considered a favourite to take all the Roland Garros marbles. Instead she fell in the quarter-finals to Halep after leading by a set and up 5-1 at match point.
Svitolina suffered an epic collapse, losing 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-0 in what was described as the meltdown of the year. (Tables were turned on Halep in the final, likewise whacked by upstart Jelena Ostapenko after leading by a set and a break and looked to be cruising.)
Nevertheless, for baseliner Svitolina, it was a great season on clay backed up by a good season on grass — through to the round of 16 at Wimbledon, falling to Ostapenko in a hard-fought second-set tiebreaker. Looking now to carry that momentum through the hard-court term and straight to Flushing Meadows. Mighty step-up for Svitolina. “Everyone is listening to you more, that’s different,” she muses, by which she means the bristle of microphones now being stuck in her face. “It’s pressure of course, but it gives you the kind of push that you need each morning to wake up and go on a court or to the gym to work.
“It’s very good that I’m a top-10 player, but at the same time I try to not think so much about it because sometimes it can really play a bad game in your head.’’
Thus, not dwelling too much on the nightmare that unfolded at Roland Garros. “If I would come back to that match each day or each week, I would probably end up somewhere in a crazy house.’’
As Svitolina adds, an athlete learns more from losing than winning.
“I learned that I need to stay in the moment, don’t think so much about what’s going to be ahead of me and don’t think, oh, I can be in the semifinal.’’
From the wizened perspective of a 22-year-old with seven years on the circuit, Svitolina offers a bit of advice for greenhorns moving out of juniors, struggling for a foothold among the big girls.
“Be more patient. Of course, when you’re young you’re not that patient. You want the results straight away, next day. If you trained hard in the gym last night, you expect that you will play unbelievable.
“This is quite normal for young people. But you need to be patient, you need to train a lot and you need to lose matches because it’s going to help to understand what you need to improve. Also, young players’ bodies are not completely like adults, not strong enough. The bones are still like jelly a little bit. That’s why it’s very tough to play one year very consistent for young players. They can play well a couple of matches or a few tournaments but then they break down a little bit.’’
The swing-back. As it swung back hard Monday afternoon for French Open champion Ostapenko, upset stunningly in her first-round match by American qualifier Varvara Lepchenko, 1-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(5).
Another supernova among the women who burned brightly and then burned up? Maybe it was just her turn.
Svitolina observes sagely: “Take your time. Don’t rush. Don’t think too much about the ranking points. It can make you go crazy.
“Yes, back in the crazy house.”