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THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 1, 2019

Elina Svitolina

Wimbledon, London, England

E. SVITOLINA/D. Gavrilova

7-5, 6-0

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What are your thoughts on the fact that so many different players have won majors, nine different players have won the last 10 majors?
ELINA SVITOLINA: Well, I think it's, as we all know, that it's wide open for the girls now these days, for the past maybe two years. Everyone been talking about it, so I don't think it's a big surprise for anyone.

I think it's more interesting for the fans and for everyone. Even for us I think it's quite interesting because you never know what to expect even from the first round.

Everyone is fit. Everyone now these days has a fitness coach, has a mental coach, is, like, 20 coaches. That's why everyone is extremely ready to beat you when you step on court.

That's extremely, yeah, extremely tough. You have to be ready for that, for whatever comes.

Q. I saw on Twitter just now you like your dress.
ELINA SVITOLINA: I love my dress (smiling).

Q. I'm curious if you can tell us about it.
ELINA SVITOLINA: Are you friends with the girl or what?

Q. Wondering what made your reaction to that? You seemed unhappy with that assessment.
ELINA SVITOLINA: Yeah, I think it was not fair. It's not fair for designers, because they put so much work into our kit. They put so much effort in it. And then to say something that it was, that there was no effort. I think it was not fair for them.

I went actually to the headquarters where I saw all the guys working behind the scenes. It's the same, like, for the tournament, you know. We go to play the tournament, and we just play and we think it's just everyday thing that happens. But it's so much work that put into the tournament and everything going around us, so we have to appreciate this.

Q. You went to the headquarters in Oregon?
ELINA SVITOLINA: Yeah.

Q. When did you do that?
ELINA SVITOLINA: That was one year ago, yeah. So that's why I don't think it's very polite to say that.

Q. Can you tell us about some of the details? You see it up close, obviously.
ELINA SVITOLINA: Yeah, but I send the link (smiling). There is, like, six pictures. You can check it out.

Q. I saw that G.E.M.S. is back. The video, wondering if that was your first date? Because your acting was very convincing, voice acting.
ELINA SVITOLINA: No, no, no, it was -- I mean, we were just having fun. I think it's nice because we have so many messages that the account is back. We have our ups and downs, but in the end, you know, it's back. It's good, I guess.

Q. Do you see yourself as an underdog or...
ELINA SVITOLINA: Yeah, last year it was not so good but year before it was a great run for me. I think I can play well on grass. I just need to be really focused on what I have to do on court. That's very important for me just to take one match at a time, to don't think too much of what's going on.

Also be healthy. That's one of the goals, one of the priorities for me, to be fresh and to give myself a chance to actually play well, because I think, you know, I can play really good. It's just a matter of getting more time on the court and just be focused on what I have to do.

Q. US Open was talking about adding more coaching during matches in the main draw. They experimented with it at quallies last year. Curious what you would think of that change at that tournament and Grand Slams in general.
ELINA SVITOLINA: For me, I'm not the fan in general about the coaching. I don't think even the WTA tournaments -- I would be against it. I use it because I have a chance to use it, so why not? Yeah, I wouldn't really be a fan of this.

Q. You're playing Margarita Gasparyan again. What are you going to do differently compared to the last time you played her last month?
ELINA SVITOLINA: Well, first of all, I think I'm a little bit more prepared now. I'm feeling better. I did recover better from my injury, so I feel physically better. I mean, really gonna see on the day how I'm going to feel, but I will for sure try something a little bit different and on the return, on my serve, as well. So that's the plan so far.

I was gonna speak with my coach and probably he's gonna watch back what I did wrong. It was quite close match. It was only I think one break in the end, and I made some stupid decisions, as always (smiling).

But, yeah, I mean, it's another chance to play well and hopefully I can play another good match.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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