Elina Svitolina (28) has a lot going on all day long. One moment she is thinking about the family in her Ukrainian hometown of Odesa. Then she is again concerned with her daughter Skaï. A few hours later, she sits along the court like a fanatical supporter at a gravel fight by her husband Gaël Monfils. Only to win a hard-fought three-setter against the Australian Storm Hunter in the second round of Roland Garros the next day. “It is the first time that we experience a tournament together as a family,” says Svitolina. “We enjoy spending time together off court and try to focus entirely on tennis when required.”
Svitolina – still number three in the world on September 11, 2017 – had no doubts about a return when she became pregnant with French tennis player Monfils at the beginning of 2022. Although it was a pregnancy full of different emotions. As a tennis pro with a babybreak she saw a new generation of players, with Iga Swiatek as figurehead, take over the reigns. And as a top Ukrainian athlete abroad, she followed the war through the news. In both cases as a powerless outsider.
Raemon Shutter
After the birth of her daughter on October 16, 2022, Svitolina’s thoughts quickly turned to a serious comeback. In doing so, she followed the trail of other tennis mothers such as Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka, who have made a comeback in the professional circuit with varying degrees of success in recent years. Svitolina said in Paris that she got her motivation from two different goals. Above all, she wanted to give herself another chance to get the most out of her career, with winning the WTA Finals in 2018 being her provisional highlight. In addition, she hopes to give her compatriots a moment of happiness with victories. “However small my victories may be, I hope the Ukrainians can still enjoy them,” explains Svitolina. “Because in these dark times it is important to keep seeing the bright side of life.”
Svitolina vowed to get as fit as possible before taking to the track. To this end, she tormented herself in the gym for a few months and, by her own admission, returned stronger than before. And to improve her game technically and tactically, she hired the Dutchman Raemon Sluiter. She still knew him as coach of Kiki Bertens, against whom she won twice and lost twice.
According to Svitolina, there is “a good click” between Shutter and her. “We had the chance to work together for over three months without there being a tournament where I played. That is different from normal when you start with a new coach. Then you hardly have time to adapt, to get to know each other. We have embarked on a path together and together we determine what is needed to reach a decent level”, explains Svitolina at the tennis complex at the Bois de Boulogne.
A smile appears on Svitolina’s face when she is asked how Shutter’s hand is visible in her playing. “I still play my forehand with one hand,” she says with a witticism, referring to the double-handed game of her Dutch coach. “I do what he says. And I believe in that. Perhaps it would be better for you to judge for yourself what the influence of Sluiter is.”
Russian opponent
It is clear that Svitolina has reached such a good level again under the guidance of Sluiter that she won the WTA tournament in Strasbourg last week. There she defeated Anna Blinkova in the final. And on Friday she will meet the same player in the third round of Roland Garros, after two victories on the Court Simonne-Mathieu against the Italian Martina Trevisan and the Australian Hunter. In both matches, Svitolina showed some of her old class at times, but above all she showed her enormous will to win.
The new meeting with Blinkova will be fraught again. Because officially there is no flag behind Blinkova’s name, but everyone knows that she comes from Russia. And so, whether Svitolina likes it or not, the war comes up again. Blinkova, who surprisingly dealt with the French favorite Caroline Garcia on Wednesday, says when asked that the meeting with Svitolina is “no more than a normal match” for her.
For Svitolina it is different. “When I step onto the track, I try to think of the fighter mentality that we Ukrainians have. My compatriots are fighting for the freedom of all of us in their own countries. I’m fighting my own battle here in Paris. On my own, on my own front line.” But before Svitolina sets her sights on the track, she will first support her husband Monfils on Thursday evening in his fight against the young Danish world top player Holger Rune.
A version of this article also appeared in the June 1, 2023 issue.