Svitolina rising up rankings, but there's 'always something in front'

22-year-old Elina Svitolina, who won Toronto by beating Caroline Wozniacki in the final, says she is now more calm and composed, which is helping her win big matches.

She defeated four Top 10 players to win Toronto, which took her to No. 4 in the rankings.

“Of course I get nervous. Everyone gets nervous,” she says. “If you're not nervous then something is wrong. Because all athletes, they want to win so badly that sometimes it happens that it's too much. So you need to really find your way of managing the nerves and do it all the time, and try to find the zone where you feel comfortable and you are playing at your best.”

This season, the Ukrainian has won titles in Toronto, Rome, Istanbul, Dubai and Taipei City, having won just one title previously. In the past seven months, Svitolina has also defeated Top 10 players in Angelique Kerber, Karolina Pliskova, Garbine Muguruza, Venus Williams, Simona Halep and Wozniacki, twice.

She fell to Halep in the semifinals of the French Open when she was just a game away from victory, and says that she is just working on getting better.

“It's been a long journey and I still [have a] long journey ahead of me. I try to look only forward,” she said. “There [are] going to be lots of tough matches, tough tournaments. I still have [a] career in front of me and hopefully for many more years to go.

"Of course I'm very, very happy that I could win [a] fifth title, but in the same time,  I need to move. I have next tournament already, [then] the U.S. Open, coming up. There's always something in front, and that's very important for me to have this mindset.”

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