Tokyo Olympics: Honeymoon has to wait! Newlywed Svitolina back on court

World number six Svitolina was back practising on Tuesday at the Ariake Tennis Park, where she will don Ukraine's colours for the tennis event at the Games and try to improve on her quarter finals showing at the Rio de Janeiro Games five years ago.

Published : Jul 21, 2021 14:31 IST , Tokyo

Ukraine's Elina Svitolina in action.
Ukraine's Elina Svitolina in action.
lightbox-info

Ukraine's Elina Svitolina in action.

Few athletes would have had a more eventful buildup to the Tokyo Olympics than Ukrainian Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils of France.

Tennis' latest power couple got married on Friday but the honeymoon has had to wait as two days later they boarded the flight to Tokyo to participate in the Games.

World number six Svitolina was back practising on Tuesday at the Ariake Tennis Park, where she will don Ukraine's colours for the tennis event at the Games and try to improve on her quarter finals showing at the Rio de Janeiro Games five years ago.

"We are used to having so many competitions in a year so there is no time for resting," Svitolina told the International Tennis Federation.

FOLLOW OUR COVERAGE OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES

"Now it's time to focus on tennis, and the Olympics of course. It's very special for any athlete to be here. The honeymoon is planned for November!"

Svitolina was aged 21 and ranked 20th in the world when she ousted American great Serena Williams in the third round of the women's singles in Rio, but she failed to build on her landmark win by falling in the quarter-finals to Czech Petra Kvitova.

The focus was back on the tennis for Svitolina as she sweated out on court trying to get acclimatised to the hot and humid conditions in Tokyo.

READ: Tokyo Olympics: Ukraine's Svitolina sets sight on podium finish

"It's unbelievable to be fair," she said. "So many exciting events in my life. Now it's so nice to be at the Olympics.

"It was unbelievable to have a wedding and right now, with the COVID restrictions, it was unbelievable to have two families join together. We had an amazing time.

"But now we are here. We have to prepare and hopefully to play well here in Tokyo."

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment