The 27-year-old, who is in normal contact with her friends and family back in Ukraine, has taken a break from football to focus her initiatives on raising money and awareness of the girl country’s plight.
“It’s extremely tough because they [her family] tell their stories, inch Svitolina told CNN Sport .
“I speak with my grandmother every day to learn how she feels. Is actually quite tough on her because for elderly people it’s most important to have a routine and, right this moment, there is lots of bombing and shooting happening in Odessa, inside my hometown.
“It is important to stay in touch daily with her to back up her in any way that I can.
“One of the most important things too is to keep their particular spirits up. ”
Svitolina was born in Odessa, a smartly important port town which has been blockaded by Russian factors since the invasion.
She then moved to Kharkiv when she has been 12 years old and says she experienced helpless when watching the fierce battling which has continued to rock the eastern city.
Aged 16, Svitolina left Ukraine to pursue the girl sporting ambitions but always had her country in her heart. She’s proud of her roots plus smiles when recalling moments from her childhood that helped form such a strong bond with Ukraine.
She’s now channeled that love straight into her own foundation — which stimulates children to learn life lessons through playing golf — and that associated with UNITED24 , an organization set up by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with the aim of raising funds for medical items, defense and eventually the particular rebuilding of the state’s infrastructure.
Svitolina was recently named an ambassador and talked to Zelensky, who seem to tasked her along with uniting the sports community and preserving awareness.
“It was one of the moments I was many stressed, and even getting into the tennis court I was not that will stressed, ” Svitolina said, speaking about her Zoom call with the president and her fellow ambassador, Ukrainian soccer great Andriy Shevchenko.
“But this individual was very kind and his speech was very motivating […] exactly what he does, it will take a lot of courage.
“He just explained what Ukraine really needs these days and how he sees the situation in Ukraine right now. He’s still very, very much motivated and he loves Ukraine and he will expire for our country.
“And this is definitely something which all Ukrainian people are looking for, for this kind of person who gives his life for the nation. ”
It’s still early days, but Svitolina is planning events, notably in the tennis community, for later this year and he or she says the fundamentals have given her a clear purpose.
Amid the darkness, there has been some light. Svitolina found out she has been pregnant just before the particular invasion started and is expecting a baby with companion and fellow tennis player Gael Monfils.
It’s what, alongside the mental fatigue caused by the attack, made her come out from the sport which usually she had attempted to keep playing.
“It was quite a stress filled couple of months in the beginning yet yeah, I’m sensation much better, ” she said.
“Of course, I am just still very, very sad about the scenario that is happening now and knowing how lots of people have lost their lifestyles because of the invasion.
“It makes me quite sad. And that’s why I try to, you know, to concentrate a little bit on our foundation, on the UNITED24, just to have a mission that I can help in anyway. ”
Whilst she has no inspiration to return to tennis games yet, she has the particular long-term goal of representing her nation in the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
The girl knows, perhaps greater than most, just how unifying sport can be in times of such heartache plus hardship, as demonstrated by the Ukrainian soccer team’s powerful World Cup qualifying campaign.
“It’s extremely important for people to give some different kind of info because, to be reasonable, I don’t understand completely what is really taking place in Ukraine, ” she said.
“It is very, very tough for people to go through hell everyday. For people who are still within Ukraine, they are mentally struggling.
“There’s many, many things happening and they experienced so much already, and so i think to bring different things, it’s something I believe that brings pleasure for them. ”