Elina Svitolina didn't want to rate her stunning French Open victory over Jasmine Paolini as the most important win of her career as the 30-year-old noted that beating Serena Williams and Elena Rybakina at the Olympics meant a lot more.
In the French Open round-of-16, the Ukrainian tennis star had her back turned against the wall and appeared to be heading toward a straight-set defeat when she recovered from a set and a break down - as well as saved three match points - en route to completing an improbable 4-6 7-6 (4) 6-1 win over world No. 4 Paolini.
When asked if it was one of the most important wins of her career, Svitolina acknowledged that it was special. But also noted that her 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic win against Serena Williams 6-4 6-3 meant more, as well as the one she picked up over Rybakina in the Tokyo Olympics bronze medal match.
Svitolina: Beating Williams at the start of my career was a great boost of confidence
“I wouldn’t say so because I’ve had many wins in different stages of my career. For example, I had a great win against Serena in Olympics in Rio. This was a great win for me, a boost of confidence. I was pretty young at that time. Also beating Rybakina to win a bronze medal in Tokyo. This was a massive comeback as well for me to get that medal," Svitolina explained.
"There are a couple of matches that I had in the past where I had to come back after being a set down or just generally down in the match. But I rate it pretty high because for sure, winning from match points down is special. Especially in a Grand Slam.”
After upsetting Williams in the 2016 Rio Olympics round-of-16, the Ukrainian won three WTA 1000 titles the following season and achieved a career-high ranking of No. 3 in the world.
Since then, Svitolina has been regarded as one of the best players on the WTA Tour.
