By Shrivathsa Sridhar
PARIS, May 23 (Reuters) - Elina Svitolina is among the contenders for the French Open title after her Rome triumph but the Ukrainian played down her chances, saying a calmer mindset and focus on her performance outweighed thoughts of a long-awaited maiden Grand Slam title.
The 31-year-old Svitolina outlasted defending Roland Garros champion Coco Gauff in the Italian Open final last week after getting battling wins over world number two Elena Rybakina and third-ranked Iga Swiatek.
Despite lifting her biggest title since a maternity break for the birth of her daughter with fellow player Gael Monfils in 2022, Svitolina, ranked seventh in the world, said she would not put pressure on herself heading into the Grand Slam starting on Sunday.
"It's all about trying to focus on my game, my performance, not going too far with the thoughts about if I can win the title or not," Svitolina, who opens her campaign against Hungarian Anna Bondar, told reporters on Saturday.
"There's still lots of matches to win to get that title, and you need to be fit and mentally ready.
"There's still a lot of work ahead. It's just important to focus on the first round, one match at a time, and be ready for anything that comes my way."
Svitolina, who has gone past the quarter-finals at all the Grand Slams except Roland Garros, said she was at peace with how her career has unfolded.
"It's okay if I don't win a slam," she added.
"It's also fine, in a way, because if you're not okay with that I think you can just eat yourself from inside and all the time not be happy about what you do on the court.
"I think my career, even if I finish tomorrow, is okay. And if something happens, I'll be fine with that and I'll still be a happy person and live my life good.
"So I just want to have this mentality now, because I think when you're younger, of course you want to win a slam, this is the goal, number one, and you're so upset and you can really damage yourself mentally if you don't succeed.
"I still believe I can win a Grand Slam but I'm also fine if it's not going to happen or if it's not on the cards for me."
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Paris; editing by Clare Fallon)
