OLIYNYKOVA: “The dream is to play at home when Ukraine wins and the war ends”

“The week is going great and I like that every match I’m playing better and better. I had a really good match today. I think I competently waited for the opportunity, and when the moment arose to change the rhythm or go on the attack, I perfectly implemented it.

My strategy was to change pace, change direction, create a little chaos on the court to be unpredictable. I think I succeeded today.

I feel just great, because I am glad of such attention to tennis. I understand that the people in the stands are not against me – they are just rooting for the local tennis player, and that’s great. My dream is when Ukraine wins and the war ends, to play at home so that fans come to us, support, create the same atmosphere as here. I am very positive, I enjoy the atmosphere and understand that it is natural to support my people.

As for the next match, it is difficult to say, everything depends on the state of both of us. We already met this year, and it was a very strange match: I lost the first set and was 0:4 down in the second, but ended up winning in three. It was really strange. Now I will try to focus on my game and recovery because it is late and I still need to get used to evening matches. And tomorrow, I think, anything can happen.”