Elina Svitolina builds pregnancy comeback without Nike by her side

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Wilson Blade 9

New mom on tour Elina Svitolina is no longer partnered with her long-time clothing sponsor Nike. As the Ukrainian made her return to the Hologic WTA Tour, signs of her breakup with Nike began to emerge. But it wasn’t until this week’s tournament in Rome that the end of their partnership became undeniably clear.

Elina Svitolina Paka dress
Elina Svitolina wearing Ukrainian brand Paka during the first round of the 2023 Internazionali BNL d’Italia WTA 1000 tennis tournament

Kicking off her comeback at the Credit One Charleston Open in April, Svitolina wore a Nike outfit and Adidas tennis shoes. At the Mutua Madrid Open, the former world No.3 made the same choice.

Svitolina sporting Nike separates and Adidas tennis shoes during her first-round loss to Aliaksandra Sasnovich at the 2023 Mutua Madrid Open

On Monday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, the two-time former Rome champion wore a Nike sweatshirt and cap while being interviewed ahead of the tournament, but then surprised with a Paka tennis dress during her first-round loss against countrywoman Lesia Tsurenko on Wednesday. Paka is a new name in the tennis fashion world — it is a Ukrainian premium quality sportswear that specializes in racquet sports.

Elina Svitolina of Ukraine during a TV interview ahead of the 2023 Internazionali BNL d’Italia WTA 1000 tennis tournament
During a TV interview ahead of the 2023 Internazionali BNL d’Italia WTA 1000 tennis tournament, Svitolina was clad in Nike.

Paka has close to 11K followers on Instagram. I don’t think that they are Svitolina’s official apparel sponsor at the moment, as there are no announcements on their social media. We’ll see which sportswear brand the two-time Grand Slam semifinalist will partner with in the coming period. (photos: Jimmie48)

2 COMMENTS

  1. She deserved to be dropped by Nike, I mean she was never consistent in slams, doesnt show she was a quality top players, even during her peak!

  2. Ric you don’t know what your talking about. Svitolina has been the most consistent WTA player from 2015 until her pregnancy last year. She Was World No 3 Won the WTA tour Finals. Sponsors prefer consistent players in all Tournaments not just Slams. They want players that consistently reach Premier Tournaments 1000 – 500 – 250. Just winning 1 slam earning 2000 points sees you OK for 1 season but being in the TOP 5 constantly for 5 or 6 seasons shows she is a TOP player.

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