World No 4 Elina Svitolina taking lessons in the ring - but she's not about to follow Conor McGregor into boxing

On a warm and humid day in Brooklyn the temperatures are rising inside Gleason’s Gym. The likes of Jake LaMotta, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson and Hector Camacho have all trained here and the modern-day boxers who are honing their ringcraft in one of the sport’s most iconic venues are clearly inspired by its air of history.

Surrounded by fight posters and photographs that adorn the walls of the gym, which sits in the shadow of Manhattan Bridge just yards from the East River, the inheritors of the gym’s rich heritage are sparring in the ring, working up a sweat on running machines or with skipping ropes and pummelling punchbags.

There are as many women boxers as men working out. On centre stage is Alicia Ashley, a five-time world champion who became the sport’s oldest female title holder when she won the WBC super-bantamweight title two years ago at the age of 48.

Ashley’s day job is as a trainer at Gleason’s and today she is working with a 22-year-old Ukrainian who is making up for her inexperience with her enthusiasm and athleticism. Before long the youngster is ducking and weaving in impressive fashion and delivering rasping blows with both hands into Ashley’s punch mitts.

It is some show for a tennis player making her very first appearance in a boxing ring. Elina Svitolina is taking a break from her own day job, in which she has been making quite a name for herself this year. The world No 4, who will be one of the favourites when the US Open begins across the city at Flushing Meadows on Monday, was on the practice court at 8am, but her dedication is such that she has taken this opportunity later in the day to see what she might learn from one of the legends of women’s boxing.

The lesson does not disappoint. The nimble footwork that the best boxers use is an obvious parallel with the movements required of a tennis player, but Svitolina can also see the advantages of having to think on your feet in an attempt to outsmart your opponent.

“It was great for me and I’m definitely going to have some more classes in the future,” Svitolina said afterwards. “For a work-out in the off-season in particular I think it’s a very good option, though probably not during a tournament because it can be very dangerous.

open image in gallery

“I spoke to Alicia and there are so many things in common between boxing and tennis. Both sports are not just about power. The mental side can be very important in boxing and that’s very common in tennis as well. It was very interesting to hear what Alicia said. Since I turned professional I have been more focussed on my tennis-specific conditioning. For me it was a different experience.

“In boxing you need to find a way to win and it’s the same in tennis. You need to find a way, to find out where to place the ball, what strategy to use. It’s the same in boxing. You need to find your openings and work out what you need to do to beat your opponent.”

Ashley, who was impressed by Svitolina’s “real connection with her body”, agreed. “Rounds in boxing are like sets in tennis,” she said. “If you’re down by one round you can always come back, as you can if you lose a set in tennis. When a boxer goes to a corner the coach might say: ‘Forget that round, focus on the next thing.’ A lot of boxers can’t do that, but you sometimes have to navigate a way through and change things, just as you do in tennis.”

Svitolina has navigated her way through a succession of big tournaments this year. She has won five titles and became the first woman ever to win three “Premier 5” tournaments – the next level down from the four Grand Slam events - in the same year when she added this month’s Toronto crown to those she had won in Dubai and Rome. By the end of the US Open she could even be world No 1.

open image in gallery

Boxing is big in Ukraine and Svitolina has long admired fighters like Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, Vasyl Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk. “We have so many big names, so many boxing champions,” she said. “They are all amazing athletes and it’s great what they do for our country and how they compete. For me it’s amazing to hear they are from the same country as me. I am very proud of it.”

Svitolina was disappointed to miss the last fight of the now-retired Wladimir Klitschko’s career, against Britain’s Anthony Joshua at Wembley in April, because she was otherwise engaged, winning a tournament in Istanbul.

“I had tickets to go to the fight but I was playing in the semi-finals and then I got into the final,” she said. “Because it was on Saturday it was impossible for me to go. And for me I was very disappointed because I knew that it could be one of his last fights.”

For a country with a population of around 44 million, Ukraine – to use an appropriate phrase – punches above its weight across a number of sports. “In Ukraine we have so many good athletes with a fighting spirit,” Svitolina said. “Nothing is easy when you grow up in a country where sport is not on the first pages.

“I think we could have even more. We could have more tennis players, for example, but unfortunately we don’t have money to help boys and girls move from juniors to seniors. We need to invest money. Some players choose a different path. Maybe they go to study and then they come back to professional tennis or they just decide to stop because it is too difficult. I think other sports have the same problem.”

open image in gallery

Svitolina thinks her fellow Ukrainians would probably regard her becoming world No 1 as a greater achievement than winning a Grand Slam title, but is concentrating on more immediate goals as she goes into the US Open.

“I am just thinking that l will take one match at a time,” she said. “I am just going to focus on my preparation for the tournament because it’s very important to stay injury-free and be mentally fresh. A Grand Slam takes a lot of energy out of you.”

Most of Svitolina’s biggest wins have been on hard courts, but she does not necessarily see the US and Australian Opens as the tournaments providing her best chances of Grand Slam success. “I played well on clay at Roland Garros and on grass at Wimbledon,” she said. “It’s tough to say which would be my favourite.”

For a young player making her breakthrough Svitolina has strong opinions about the game. For example, she likes the experiment being conducted at the qualifying tournament here whereby an on-court clock tells the players when their 25 seconds between points is up. “There are some players who take too much time,” she said.

open image in gallery

However, she is not a supporter of another experiment which allows coaches to talk to their players from the sidelines. Until now this has been banned at Grand Slam tournaments, though coaches are allowed to come on court during matches on the Women’s Tennis Association tour to talk to their players once in each set.

“I don’t think it’s the right thing,” Svitolina said. “For me all the work should be done before you enter the court. You need to be prepared. That is why you have some weeks off, to get on the practice court with your coach and your team, to prepare and then go into the tournament.”

Svitolina thinks that allowing on-court coaching is “not good for the image” of women’s tennis. “The guys don't have this so why do the girls need to have it?” she said.

Whether she is in the ring, on the court or just talking about sport, Svitolina is not someone to be taken lightly. The other 127 players in the field for the US Open have been warned.