Svitolina ended her 2025 season early, saying she “didn’t feel like myself”.
She has started 2026 with a 10-match winning streak – the third longest of her career. She has dropped just one set in that series, triumphing in Auckland shortly before the first major of the year.
“If I kept pushing last year, I don’t think I would start here. I would be exhausted and not even sure if I would be injury-free,” Svitolina said.
“It was important to just take a step back. I don’t regret taking this time.”
Svitolina faces a tough task if she wants to move on. She has lost her past four meetings with her semi-final opponent, world number one Aryna Sabalenka.
But Svitolina knows what all her victories at home mean.
She took a break from competition in 2022 due to, among other things, the emotional tension of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Svitolina wrote in her BBC column in 2024 that many Ukrainians feel that people have lost interest in their ongoing struggle to repel the invasion. She regularly speaks about the war at her post-match press conferences and often writes a message to her country through the camera lens after the victory.
“It’s great for my country. I know a lot of people watched, especially the matches I had before,” Svitolina said after her win over Gauff.
“It is close to my heart to see a lot of support from Ukrainians. It was, I think, one of the toughest winters for the Ukrainian people.
“I’m excited [I] bring this light, a little light, to the Ukrainian people, to my friends when they watch my matches.
“It’s a great feeling for me.”
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