Svitolina ended her 2025 season early, saying she had “not been feeling like myself”.

She has begun 2026 with a 10-match profitable streak – the third-longest of her profession. She has dropped only one set in that sequence and triumphed in Auckland shortly earlier than the primary main of the yr.

“If I might maintain pushing final yr, I believe I would not begin right here. I might be exhausted, and even unsure if I might be injury-free,” Svitolina mentioned.

“It was vital to only step again. I’ve no regrets to take this time.”

Svitolina will face a troublesome job if she is to interrupt additional floor. She has misplaced her previous 4 conferences together with her semi-final opponent, world primary Aryna Sabalenka.

However Svitolina is aware of what all of her victories imply again residence.

She took a break from the sport in 2022 due to, amongst different issues, the emotional pressure of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Svitolina wrote in her BBC column in 2024 that many Ukrainians really feel folks have misplaced curiosity of their ongoing struggle to repel the invasion. She speaks in regards to the struggle incessantly in her post-match information conferences and infrequently writes a message to her nation on the digicam lens after victory.

“For my nation, it is nice. I do know that plenty of folks been watching, particularly the matches that I had earlier than,” Svitolina mentioned after her victory over Gauff.

“It’s totally near my coronary heart to see plenty of help from Ukrainians. It was, I believe, one of many hardest winters for Ukrainian folks.

“I really feel like [I] deliver this mild, a bit mild, to Ukrainian folks, to my buddies when they’re watching my matches.

“It is an amazing feeling for me.”