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Elina Svitolina reveals she was able to return to action in Dubai with the help of painkillers but also admits that it came with a price since her back inflamed again and left her unable to practice for a full week leading up to Indian Wells.
At the Australian Open, Svitolina started with three straight-set wins but her promising run ended in the round-of-16 after a back issue forced her to retire against Linda Noskova just three games into the match.
Svitolina, who sounded pretty shocked in her post-match press conference by her back injury, skipped a WTA 1000 tournament in Doha in mid-February but made her comeback in Dubai the following week. In Dubai, Svitolina defeated Anhelina Kalinina and Tatjana Maria in two sets before Iga Swiatek ousted her with a 6-1 6-4 scoreline on February 21st.
While Svitolina was able to clinch two wins in Dubai, she wasn’t anywhere near her best physically as her back started causing her pain and discomfort just before the tournament started.
“When I withdrew from Doha, I decided to go straight to Dubai to prepare for the tournament. I felt fine, but a few days before the competition started, my back started hurting again. I…
