The first racket of Ukraine Elina Svitolina started with a victory at the WTA tournament in Eastbourne.

The Ukrainian tennis player beat the Spanish Paula Badosa in three sets. The match lasted 2 hours and 20 minutes. Svitolina filed right through 4 times, made 6 double faults and converted 6/14 break points.

According to Svitolina, she had a difficult fight, but she is happy that she was able to cope with the difficulties.

It turned out to be a very hard fight. There were ups and downs, at the end there were a lot of nerves when I filed for a win. There were a lot of hooks. But in the end everything worked out in my favour. I'm glad I was able to control my nerves and play well in the tie-break.

Elina Svitolina

This was the first meeting of tennis players.

I missed playing in England and playing on the grass. The grass season is already short, so I try to enjoy the game. In 2019, I reached the semifinals at Wimbledon, so coming back to England again is a special feeling. I'm looking forward to new challenges, of course, I would like to play even more matches here.

Elina Svitolina

Svitolina's rival in the second round will be Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan. The tennis players previously met on the court once: last year, the Ukrainian defeated Rybakina in the final of the tournament in Strasbourg.