Elina Svitolina, “Naomi Osaka deserves to be there”

Published 02/14/2019, 1:16 PM EST

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The Ukrainian tennis ace, Elina Svitolina exploded the qualifier Karolina Muchova in the quarterfinals of the Doha Open. Svitolina swept aside the Muchova, who reached her first ever WTA quarterfinal 6-4, 6-2 in their premiere meeting and winded up the match in 82 minutes.

During the Australian Open 2019, the women inside the top ten rankings of the WTA table had a great chance of becoming the top-ranked tennis player and the World Number seven, Svitolina had bright chances of getting there. For a tennis player there is no better feeling than winning a Grand Slam title and simultaneously becoming the World Number one and the tennis professionals do not get to experience such moments often in their careers. However, the 21-year-old from Japan, Naomi Osaka got to sense that moment as she held her second consecutive Slam and attained the top-rank.

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“I think it’s very interesting who can win a Grand Slam, gonna become No. 1, and I think that’s how it has to be. You know, Naomi, she deserves to be there,” she uttered during her on-court interview. “She won two slams. That’s why she’s No. 1. She played some great tennis. She beat some great players. She’s been very consistent at the slams. It’s, I mean, fully deserved to be there.”

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Svitolina believes that the niche position of tennis motivates the players to push themselves to the next level of their game. The challenging sport of tennis which is evolving day by day demands a polished skill-set and consequently, the top ranking brings out the best within a player as they work harder to maintain their crowning level.

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Svitolina and the Frenchman, Gael Monfils are going out together and the couple has decided to do aid the children’s hospital in Ukraine. They will be donating $100 for every ace they hit in two of their events. The Ukrainian tennis ace believes that the real happiness lies in giving back and also she considers it to be a gesture of expressing her gratitude towards the people back home, who love and enjoy watching her play. And by clubbing the cause with Monfils makes it even more effective.

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Mahalakshmi Murali

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Mahalakshmi Murali joined EssentiallySports in 2018 as a tennis author and has gone on to pen more than 1800 engaging articles, probing into various aspects of the sport and its illustrious players. With her expertise on the sport, Mahalakshmi has interviewed stalwarts from the sport such as Serena WIlliams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou and Kevin Anderson’s physio, Carlos Costa. Equipped with her vast experience and a keen understanding of the sport, Mahalakshmi now co-heads the tennis department.
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