Ukraine’s tennis team comes to Texas for matches in the Billie Jean King Cup
Elina Svitolina is a three-time Grand Slam semifinalist who's been ranked as high as No. 3 in the world, so she would love to be able to represent Ukraine this weekend in its Billie Jean King Cup playoff matches against Austria in McKinney, Texas, about 35 miles north of Dallas.
Svitolina is sidelined while recovering from ankle surgery — she hopes to be ready to compete at the Australian Open in January — but she still made the journey to the United States with her country's team for what is technically considered a “home” contest, even if it needed to be moved out of Ukraine because of the war with Russia that began more than 2 1/2 years ago.
“Of course it's tough for us not to be able to host the (matches) in Ukraine. The support of your people is special, so we are very sad that we don’t have that chance now these days,” Svitolina said in a video interview. “But at the same time, we are grateful for all the people helping organize our events away from home. Can’t thank them enough for these gestures.”
