Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina celebrated her first title since turning into a mom by donating her prize cash to assist kids in her homeland.
Svitolina, 28, beat Russia’s Anna Blinkova 6-2 6-3 to win the Internationaux de Strasbourg.
It comes simply seven months after the previous world quantity three, who’s married to French participant Gael Monfils, gave delivery to their daughter Skai.
“I want to share this vitality with Ukraine,” stated Svitolina.
“All my prize cash from this match goes to go to the children of Ukraine, [which is] a lot wanted on this robust second.”
Svitolina introduced after the 2022 Miami Open final March that she was taking a sabbatical, citing the psychological toll of the Russian invasion on her residence nation, and shortly after introduced her being pregnant.
She continued to protest against the war earlier than returning to the WTA tour in April and is now ranked 508th on this planet.
Solely three different gamers have received a match on the WTA with a decrease rating, and Svitolina turned solely the fifth wildcard to win on the tour.
It was the seventeenth title of her profession and first since successful in Chicago in 2021.
The victory is a well timed enhance for Svitolina earlier than the French Open, which begins on Sunday.
Svitolina, who has by no means gone previous the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, is utilizing her protected rating to play within the match and can face Italian Martina Trevisan, 29, a semi-finalist final yr, within the first spherical.
Her win in Strasbourg got here in simply over one hour half-hour and included seven breaks of the Blinkova serve.
“I want to thank France for doing an unbelievable job, welcoming Ukrainians, doing all the things doable for them to really feel prefer it’s their second residence,” she stated.
“Thanks a lot for all the things that you just do for us, and collectively, we’ll see the sunshine and finish this warfare.”
