The year 2022 was a special one for Elina Svitolina. She gave birth to her first child, Skai, in October of that year. Three months later, the Ukrainian tennis star returned to the court with renewed enthusiasm. While she had a decent 2023 season, Svitolina has made a positive start to the 2024 season. Recently, she revealed how motherhood has resulted in changing priorities for her, which is a surprising contrast to what another new mom, Naomi Osaka, feels.

While focusing on her tennis and motherhood commitments, Svitolina is also involved in many other activities. She is an active member of her organization, the Elina Svitolina Foundation, and is also a part of other groups. Here’s what she said about the effect of her motherhood on those duties.

Elina Svitolina opens up about her career goals post-motherhood

Recently, Elina Svitolina was involved in an interview with CNN. She talked about various subjects, like her role as ambassador for UNITED 24 and assessing last season’s performances. Additionally, she was asked if she would ever win a Grand Slam.

Replying to this question, Svitolina said, “Of course, I want to win a Grand Slam, now, I feel like the priorities have changed a lot after giving birth to Skai and you know, doing so much and you know, having other goals as well with UNITED 24, with my foundation.”

Further, she went on to add, “I feel like priorities shifted little bit and I want to play, I want to win every single match I step on the court. But right now, I also try to enjoy this journey and just not put too much pressure on myself.”

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On the other hand, Naomi Osaka had contrasting views about her career post-motherhood. She gave birth to her first child last year and made a comeback last week.

What did Osaka say about her career priorities?

After being away from tennis for more than a year, the Japanese star returned to the court at the Brisbane International last week. Unlike Svitolina, she is completely focused on the sport and aiming to make it big in the coming months.

She said, “I want my kid to watch one of my matches and tell someone, ‘That’s my mom.” This indicates that Osaka is here to stay as far as her tennis priorities are concerned.

Both Svitolina and Osaka will be seen in action at the Australian Open which begins later this month. It’ll be interesting to see how they perform on the sport’s biggest stage after becoming mothers.

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