'It's not fair': Female tennis star at centre of Wimbledon dress controversy

Elina Svitolina has angrily fired back at criticism of her Wimbledon outfit after a straight-sets win over Daria Gavrilova.

Svitolina was way too good for the Aussie on the opening day at Wimbledon, but the talk after the match was about her dress.

The Ukrainian star took issue with a fan on social media after they described the Nike outfit as ‘basic’ and suggested the designers had put in ‘minimal effort’.

“COMPLETELY DISAGREE!!” she hit back on Twitter.

“Take a close look at all the details this dress has !!!!”

She then addressed the issue in her post-match press conference.

“I love my dress,” she said, explaining why she was so perturbed by the criticism.

“I think it was not fair. It's not fair for designers, because they put so much work into our kit.

“They put so much effort in it, and then to say something that it was, that there was no effort, I think it was not fair for them.

“I went actually to the headquarters where I saw all the guys working behind the scenes. It's the same, like, for the tournament, you know. We go to play the tournament, and we just play and we think it's just everyday thing that happens.

“But it's so much work that put into the tournament and everything going around us, so we have to appreciate this.”

Gavrilova considers time away

Daria Gavrilova is considering taking time out from tennis after confessing to struggling mentally following her swift first-round exit.

"I'm not in a good headspace right now," the one-time Australian No.1 said after a 7-5 6-0 collapse against eighth seed Svitolina.

Ranked 20th in the world two years ago, Gavrilova is set to tumble to around 89th after her 11th first-round defeat of an injury-ravaged season.

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The 25-year-old has been battling debilitating plantar fasciitis in her foot as well as Achilles tendonitis, which have conspired to erode the usually bubbly star's confidence.

Gavrilova said a mid-career sabbatical may be the solution.

"It's a tough decision to make and it's a bit scary at the same time," she said.

"I would feel a bit guilty doing that, for some reason, but I think it could be the decision I have to make probably because my wellbeing comes first before trying to be a good tennis player.

"I just have to break the cycle.

"I've been having days when I'm super motivated and I'm up and about and days where I'm like 'I'm struggling'."

with AAP