Wimbledon star Svitolina ‘couldn’t handle Ukraine pressure on her shoulders’

Highlights from day 11 at Wimbledon

Martina Navratilova has claimed that Ukrainian Wimbledon star Elina Svitolina “couldn’t handle the pressure” of representing her country at SW19. The 28-year-old had a stunning and emotional run at this year’s tournament as she reached the semi-finals, before being defeated by Marketa Vondrousova.

Svitolina broke down in tears after her 6-3, 6-3 defeat to the Czech star as she claimed that competing as a Ukrainian was “a lot of responsibility”. Her run at the Major did not come without controversy, having refused to shake hands with Russian and Belarussian players amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Victoria Azarenka was booed off the court following her defeat to Svitolina, as the crowd were unaware that no handshake would take place.

Svitolina captured the hearts of many in and outside of Ukraine at Wimbledon, but Navratilova believes that the pressure did catch up to her in the semi-final.

“It’s both [an inspiration and burden to play for an entire country],” Navratilova told the BBC ahead of the final between Ons Jabeur and Vondrousova. “Because last year was her [Jabeur] first final, this year it’s her third one. She’s getting kind of used to being there and she’s a massive favourite so it’s different pressure altogether.

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“But I think it’s both a plus and a minus because it can wear you down. Look what happened to Svitolina, I think she just couldn’t handle the pressure of carrying her country on her shoulders, so we will see how both players react to that but Ons has got a much bigger burden on her shoulders for sure.”

Following her exit in the final four, Svitolina suggested that Navratilova was correct in her assessment as she described being under “a lot of responsibility”, though she insisted that it was not to blame for her defeat.

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“For sure it’s a big motivation, but also it’s a lot of responsibility – a lot of tension,” Svitoline said through tears at her press conference. “I try to balance it as much as I can, but sometimes it gets maybe too much.

“But I don’t want to take it as an excuse that I lost today. I try to take it as a motivation for me. I just hope that Ukrainian people keep supporting me. I just hope that I’m going to get another chance. It’s unbelievable – they have been there with me all the way. I hope Ukrainian people continue supporting me. It was really amazing.”

Jabeur has been facing a similar situation playing for Tunisia and is the only woman from Africa to reach a Wimbledon final, but having reached the final last year has more experience of dealing with the pressure that Navratilova and Svitolina have discussed at the tournament.

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