Elina Svitolina’s exit at Wimbledon today marked one of the biggest of the tournament so far, as she lost to fellow Ukrainian Daria Snigur in straight sets.
It was a wholly inexplicable performance from the eighth seed, who struggled behind both her first and second serve, and was well beaten in the end.
Speaking afterwards, Svitolina unsurprisingly cut a downbeat figure, citing a hectic clay-court schedule as one possible reason for her shock early exit.
However, she also referenced another issue that she argued all players are dealing with, keen to shine a light on something that’s been upsetting her lately.
Elina Svitolina speaks after losing in the first round at Wimbledon
Chatting at her press conference, one reporter was keen to get Svitolina’s thoughts on why she thinks there have been so many injuries of late.
After all, with Emma Raducanu having withdrawn from Wimbledon at the eleventh hour, she headlined a myriad of high-profile absentees from both the men’s and women’s sides at this Grand Slam.
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Svitolina admitted: “Yeah, I mean, because we know how it’s been before.
“Of course it’s difficult for us to adjust. Now with so many tournaments, you are chasing all the time. If you’re not playing one week, there are some players playing it, and you are chasing the ranking or the seeding or something. It’s always chase for something.
“When you are, like, really in the mix, sometimes it’s playing in your head. So I think sometimes we just have to step back, maybe skip few tournaments and rest. I think, yeah, sometimes the structure is just forcing you to play. It’s not for good reason.
“So yeah, it’s very sad to deal with this for many players. Of course, it’s affecting the performance, affecting our physical conditions.”
Who are the biggest players to have lost in the first round of Wimbledon 2026?
Whilst last year saw the top seeds fall with alarming regularity in the opening two rounds, there have been far fewer upsets this year.
That being said, there have still been plenty of upsets to write home about, not least Ben Shelton’s shock five-set loss to Otto Virtanen.
Every seed who has lost at Wimbledon so far
- Leylah Fernandez [22]
- Anastasia Potapova [27]
- Ann Li [28]
- Donna Vekic [31]
- Clara Tauson [24]
- Luciano Darderi [14]
- Casper Ruud [11]
- Cam Norrie [26]
- Andrey Rublev [12]
- Alejandro Tabilo [30]
- Ugo Humbert [27]
- Ben Shelton [4]
- Francisco Cerundolo [18]
- Matteo Arnaldi [32]
He, along with Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev, represent the three biggest casualties that the ATP Tour has suffered.
Meanwhile, joining Svitolina are heavy hitters like Donna Vekic and Clara Tauson as well as Leylah Fernandez.
