After losing her first match since maternity leave at the WTA 500 Credit One Charleston Open last week, Elina Svitolina continued her comeback at a $60000 ITF tournament in Chiasso, Switzerland and recorded a victory over Elena-Gabriela Ruse.
The former world No.3 Svitolina, who gave birth to her first child in October last year, entered the Chiasso event as a wildcard and dispatched the seventh-seeded Ruse 6-4 6-2 in the first round of the 32-player draw. In the second round, Svitolina’s opponent will be another Romanian player, world No.217 Alexandra Ignatik.
We thought that Svitolina’s first tournament after Charleston would be the April 17-23 ITF tournament in Oeiras, Portugal, but the Ukrainian didn’t want to have an empty week, so she also entered the April 10-16 clay-court event in Switzerland, the country she’s very familiar with:
“Why Chiasso? I’ve always been comfortable in Ticino (the southernmost canton of Switzerland, an Italian-speaking region). My husband (Gael Monfils) lives in Switzerland and I’ve heard great things about the tournament. I am grateful to the organisation for the wildcard.” (photo: Jimmie48)
