Elina Svitolina, a 21-year-old Ukrainian tennis player from Kharkiv, has produced the biggest shock result in the Olympic tennis competition so far by beating U.S. tennis legend Serena Williams.
Svitolina victory in Rio on
Aug. 9, which occurred overnight in Ukraine, saw her through to the
quarterfinals of the competition, and was met with great celebration in her
homeland.
Yuri Sapronov, a Kharkiv businessman
who sponsors Svitolina, told the Kyiv Post that he had been confident that the
young Ukrainian would one day rise to the top ranks in tennis.
“I knew this day would come since
the time I met (Svitolina),” Sapronov said. He said that before the match with
Williams Svitolina had been preparing for a tough match. Williams went into the meeting with the Ukrainian
tennis player on a four-match winning streak.
“Elina’s plan was the
constant attack. Serena’s opponent has to play aggressively. As soon as her
opponent goes on the defensive, Williams will blow her off the tennis court,”
said Sapronov.
Sapronov said that
aggressive play was not Svitolina’s style, so she had been taking a risk with
every shot she played.
However, the UK newspaper The
Daily Mail wrote that the Ukrainian athlete won because Williams had made a lot
of unforced errors.
By the end of the match, Svitolina had won 63 points, but only
nine came via clean winners. The others came thanks to Williams’ 37 unforced
errors and 17 forced errors, the newspaper reported on Aug. 10.
Sapronov disagreed with that
assessment.
“It was not Serena’s defeat, as many reported — it was
Svitolina’s victory. She forced her distinguished opponent to make those
mistakes,” he said.
Williams, meanwhile, was already putting the shock defeat
behind her.
“The better player today
won, but I know next time it’s going to be a really good match, and I look
forward to it.” Williams told the BBC after the match.
Sapronov first met Svitolina in
Odesa when she was only 11, and signed a 7-year contract with her when she was
12 after he realized her great potential.
In Kharkiv, Sapronov owns 24
tennis courts and a sports school for kids. He asked Svitolina’s parents to
move to Kharkiv.
“We signed a contract with
unlimited financial support. I was so happy that her parents trusted me and the
professional trainers I hired for Elina,” said Sapronov.
Svitolina’s first success came
when she, not yet 16 years old, won a junior tennis tournament against
18-year-old competitors.
Ukraine’s
small victories
Meanwhile, the other results from
Ukraine’s team in Rio have not yet been very impressive. Apart from Svitolina’s sensational victory, Ukrainian
sports fans have only been able to savor two medal-winning performances for
their country.
Ukrainian fencer Olga Kharlan
won bronze in the individuals’ competition, and athlete Serhiy Kulish bagged a
silver in the 10-meter air rifle competition.
Kyiv Post staff writer Veronika
Melkozerova can be reached at melkozerova@kyivpost. com
