Elina Svitolina suggests if she could become Ukraine’s BJK Cup captain after she retires from tennis

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Elina Svitolina played a key role in Ukraine’s Billie Jean King (BJK) Cup Qualifier victory over Poland.

Svitolina, who is the Ukrainian number one, led her country in their Qualifier tie against Poland, who were without Iga Swiatek, in Gliwice.

The former world number three comfortably won her only match against Katarzyna Kawa, as Ukraine beat Poland 4-0 to reach the BJK Cup Finals.

This was Svitolina’s first match of the clay court season, and ahead of the WTA 500 tournament in Stuttgart, she has been asked if she would consider captaining Ukraine in the BJK Cup after she retires from tennis.

Elina Svitolina unsure if she will become Ukraine’s BJK Cup captain after retiring

Svitolina has already spoken about retirement this year, despite returning to the top 10 after reaching the Australian Open semifinals, reaching the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships and lifting her 19th WTA title in Auckland.

The 31-year-old will look to claim her 20th WTA title in Stuttgart, where Svitolina was asked if she would like to be the captain of the Ukrainian BJK Cup team after she retires.

While she did not rule it out, Svitolina suggested that it is not something she has thought about, praising current captain Illya Marchenko, who is a former top 50 ATP player.

“Ah, it’s a good question. I never really thought about it,” Svitolina said in her press conference. “Now, as my foundation is taking care now of Ukrainian women’s team, I feel like it’s already a step and I think important step, because Ukrainian Federation, they ask us to take care of the team, and for the past three years, we have been doing it. Very happy to do it and, like, management kind of, because now we know the kitchen from inside (smiling).

“Being the captain, I don’t know. I think right now we have a good captain, Illya Marchenko, who used to play at a very good level. We have a good supporting team. As advisor, we have Sergiy Stakhovsky. When I go back to Ukraine, I train with him every time. He’s a very experienced guy and knows a lot also about the, you know, doubles, and I think for singles, also, he helps us a lot. So we have also a coach of the team. Ivan is very good.

“So I think, you know, we have three former players, quite high level. So I think so far the team is doing well, so we will see. Maybe in years and years, but yeah, I prefer more like behind the scenes and really that right now the foundation is involved in taking care of the team, is working good, and seems like the players are happy too.”

Has Elina Svitolina ever won the BJK Cup as a player?

Svitolina is the highest ranked singles player, male or female, in the history of Ukrainian tennis and has played 23 ties for her country in the BJK Cup.

The world number seven has played 31 matches across singles and doubles in the BJK Cup, with Svitolina winning over 60% of them.

Last year saw Svitolina and Ukraine achieve their best result in the BJK Cup, as they reached the semifinals before losing to eventual champions Italy.

Svitolina will have the opportunity to go even further with Ukraine after qualifying for the BJK Cup Finals in Shenzhen later this year.

However, Svitolina’s current focus is on the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, where she is the fourth seed and is playing German Eva Lys in her first match.