There is no pressure on me as defending champion: Svitolina

Ukraine's Elina Svitolina signing autographs ahead of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Sunday.

If Elina Svitolina lives up to the expectations and adds a few Grand Slams to her trophy cabinet before walking into the sunset, the Ukrainian would certainly have fond memories of Dubai.
It was here last year that the world number three won her first Premier WTA tournament, confirming her status among the best young players in the women's game. She went on to win two more Premier titles last year in Rome and Toronto in what was the best year of her career so far.
"Yeah, it was actually the first tournament where I went through probably the biggest year I had, reaching top 10. Winning the tournament was, of course, like a push forward," Svitolina told reporters on Sunday.
Now the 23-year-old player returns to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships as the top seed. Another win in Dubai will make her only the third player after Venus Williams and Justine Henin, her former coach, to defend the title. "It's the second time this year for me in a tournament as defending champion. I'm going to have to get used to it," the world number three said. "It's a different feeling definitely for me. But, yeah, for me it's also very interesting to see how I'm going to handle it.
"Of course, I don't look at it as pressure because I played well this year. I know what I have to do to be ready to, yeah, play well here. Yeah, just that I have to go on court and be ready for everything," added Svitolina who has got a first round bye in Dubai.
Svitolina started the new year in style, winning the Brisbane International title before bowing out of the Australian Open in the quarterfinal stage. "I think I've been good so far this year. More positive than negative. Of course, winning the first tournament of the year, playing well...still, you know, I think I'm playing good. For me it's very important to see that I'm improving each week, moving in the right direction," she said.
But Svitolina knows players are judged on their performances in the biggest tournaments of them all - the Grand Slams.
"Of course, to win a Grand Slam has always been my goal. It's going to be a big goal for the rest of my career to win a Grand Slam," she said.
So, which is her favourite surface?
"All of them," she smiled. "Well, I don't want to put any pressure on myself. I won Rome on clay. I won Toronto and here on hard court. I also played well at Wimbledon last year. I'm getting better on grass," she said.
"We're trying to approach Grand Slams little bit different. So, yeah, this year was quarterfinal. Of course, I wanted more. I wanted to go further. We do everything in our power to be ready," she said.
Svitolina, whose other big career goal is to become the world number one, admits that many players have a shot at the top ranking as there are doubts on whether the 36-year-old Serena Williams can make a strong comeback after becoming a mother.
"Yes, of course it's different. Probably maybe a little bit interesting to see who is going to win big tournaments, Grand Slams. Definitely for the fans it's more interesting," Svitolina said.
"I cannot say that it's better, but it's different. I think, of course, Serena is coming back, Maria (Sharapova), Vika (Azarenka) are coming back. It's going to be different. Tennis is moving in different direction. Now I think we have to get used to it."
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com