Rome winner Svitolina taking it 'one match at a time' as she seeks first Slam

[p]The 31-year-old [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/monfils-elina/jyngIesG/"]Svitolina[/a] outlasted defending Roland Garros champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gauff-coco/f5BXmEH6/"]‌Coco Gauff[/a] in the Italian Open final last week after ‌battling wins over world number two [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rybakina-elena/UDzElXdm/"]Elena Rybakina[/a] and third-ranked [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/swiatek-iga/jNyZsXZe/"]Iga ‌Swiatek[/a].[/p][p]Despite lifting her biggest title since a maternity break for the ‌birth of her daughter with fellow player [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/monfils-gael/fm7G8o0m/"]Gael Monfils[/a] in 2022, Svitolina, ranked seventh in the world, said she would not put pressure on herself heading ‌into the Grand Slam starting on Sunday.[/p][p][b]"It's all ⁠about trying to focus on ‌my game, my performance, not going too far with the thoughts about if ​I can win the title or not," [/b]Svitolina, who [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/bondar-a-O8s9yjMD/svitolina-e-jyngIesG/?mid=QadwetaL"]opens her campaign against Hungarian Anna Bondar[/a], told reporters on ​Saturday.[/p][p]"There are still lots of matches to win to get that title, and you need to be fit and mentally ready.[/p][p][b]"There's still a ⁠lot of work ahead. It's ​just important to focus on the first round, one match at a time, and be ready for anything that comes my way."[/b][/p][embed guid="aff0a833-3a21-421e-b023-1924cdacafb7" url="https://x.com/tntsports/status/2057743976896090191" social-type="twitter" /][p]Svitolina, who has gone past the quarter-finals at all the Grand Slams except Roland ‌Garros, said she was at peace with how her career has unfolded.[/p][p][b]"It's okay if I don't win a slam," [/b]she added.[/p][p][b]"It's also fine, in a way, because if you're not okay with that, I think you can just eat yourself from the inside and all the time not be happy about what you do on the court.[/b][/p][p][b]"I think my career, even if I finish tomorrow, is okay. And if something happens, I'll be fine with that, and I'll still ‌be a happy person and live my life good.[/b][/p][p]"So I just ​want to have this mentality now, because I think when you're ‌younger, of course, you want to win a slam, this is the goal, number one, and you're so upset and you can really damage yourself mentally if you don't succeed.[/p][p][b]"I still believe I can win a Grand Slam, but I'm also fine ⁠if it's not going to ⁠happen or if it's ‌not on the cards for me."[/b][/p][image alt="Svitolina's career stats" id="d6099016-5a96-4cd6-abc0-bd4873a12f6f" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="4f2e62b2-5e90-4dd6-99bb-69019b096070" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/tennis/wta-singles/french-open/"]Follow the women's side at Roland Garros here.[/a][/b][/p]