A month and a half after starting her comeback from maternity leave, former world No.3 Elina Svitolina has recorded her first Tour-level win by defeating Louisa Chirico in the first round of the Internationaux de Strasbourg.
Wildcard and 2020 champion Svitolina outshined her American counterpart Chirico 6-4 7-6(1), winning six out of 11 break points, while Chirico converted only five out of 15 opportunities. In the second round of the WTA 250 tournament in France, Svitolina will face the winner of the match between Hsieh Su-Wei and Erin Routliffe.
After kicking off her comeback at the Credit One Charleston Open in April, where she lost her opener, Svitolina continued her return at a $60000 ITF event in Chiasso, Switzerland and recorded a victory over Elena-Gabriela Ruse. While she went on to win three more matches at a WTA 125 event in Saint-Malo earlier this month, her triumph against the world No.242 Chirico in Strasbourg holds a special significance as it marks the Ukrainian’s first Tour-level victory since giving birth to daughter Skai.
The new chapter of Svitolina’s career unfolds without Nike as her clothing sponsor. Now she wears Ukrainian brand Paka.
