Former world No 3 Elina Svitolina has accepted to play an ITF tournament in Oeiras, which is taking place between April 17-23. Svitolina, 28, hasn’t played in 12 months but she is returning to action next week at a WTA event in Charleston.
After Charleston, Svitolina will head to Portugal, where she will compete on the clay courts of Oeiras.
Big news: Elina Svitolina received a main draw wild card for the 100k ITF in Oeiras, starting in three weeks! Fantastic news — José Morgado (@josemorgado) March 29, 2023
In Oeiras, Svitolina will without any doubt be the biggest name in the player field, considering her resume.
Svitolina on why she decided to return during the clay season
In October, Svitolina and her husband Gael Monfils welcomed their first child, a baby girl Skai. Initially, Svitolina was targeting to be ready to return during the grass season.
But after seeing how well she was feeling in practice, Svitolina figured out that there was no reason for her to wait until the grass season to return. “At first, we thought that my comeback would be at a time of Wimbledon, but then, when we saw that I was in quite good training shape, we started wondering about Roland Garros and the tournaments prior to it.
For example – Rome. When I started playing with some girls, I…