And Wuhan's famous noodles an added bonus

What if Elina Svitolina quit tennis for another sport?

Ukraine's world No 3 revealed to media on Tuesday that she once almost traded her racket for a career in gymnastics, and said she thinks it's beneficial for children to try different sports.

"I was doing a lot of sports, and I even once almost quit tennis for gymnastics but I didn't go that far," Svitolina said after her secondround 7-5, 6-2 victory over Spain's Garbine Muguruza at the Wuhan Open in Hubei's capital.

"I was playing basketball and I was doing a lot of running, which I think helped me a lot on the tennis court. All sports bring something new into your mind. When you are doing something professionally, you definitely remember what it's like to be a runner or a gymnast or whatever."

When she was asked what stopped her from quitting tennis, Svitolina gave an unexpected answer.

"Well, I wanted to eat, so that's why," she said with a smile. "I love food."

That's another reason for Svitolina to fall in love with Wuhan, a city famous for snacks - especially hot-and-dry noodles.

"I love noodles a lot. I try to eat as often as I can while I'm in China," Svitolina said. "I haven't tried the hot-and-dry noodles yet but I definitely will because I love spicy food."

At the invitation of tournament organizers, Tuesday's media conference was attended by a group of aspiring young journalists from primary and middle schools, giving them the opportunity to interact with the star players - and benefit from their advice.

"I think for kids, it's very important to do different sports," said Svitolina. "They can realize what sports are better for them. It's good for their mind, too. But it's important to not be under a lot of pressure... just have fun.

"Hopefully they can get to a better level than me. I think the most important thing is just to have fun with your friends and try to be really patient about your results.

"You are not going to win every single day or every match. All of us are losers at some point. It's normal to lose. You just have to try to analyze what you do wrong, then next time try to do better."

Svitolina had a terrific 2018 season, capped by winning the WTA Finals in Singapore, but has struggled since sustaining a knee injury in February.

The 24-year-old proved her resilience by making back-to-back semifinals at Wimbledon and the US Open, and is looking forward to defending her year-end WTA Finals title in Shenzhen from Oct 27-Nov 3.

"For sure that's my goal" said Svitolina. "I don't want to focus too much on it, but with only three tournaments left everybody is pretty close with the points."

Earlier this month, the WTA announced that world No 1 Ashleigh Barty and the doubles team of Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka have qualified for the Shenzhen showcase.

Barty became the first of eight singles players to secure her spot following a standout year that saw her win her first WTA Premier Mandatory title at the Miami Open, her first Grand Slam title at the French Open and become the first Australian woman to reach the world No 1 ranking since 1976.

"I think it's a target (to become the first Australian year-end No 1) without really being a target," Barty said in Wuhan.

"We've put ourselves in a position where it's a possibility, but I plan my schedule well in advance, so I'm not going to change it to chase that goal. I'm just going to try to do the best that I can in these next couple of events.

"It's been a goal from the very start of the year to qualify for the WTA Finals in Shenzhen. I'm proud of the work my team and I have put in to get to this point, and I'm honored to be among the top eight players of the season."