Not everyone is impressed by Elina Svitolina’s on-court heroics at Wimbledon.
In the aftermath of having taken out the world No1, she FaceTimed her husband Gael Monfils and the couple’s nine-month-old daughter Skai to celebrate her remarkable passage into the semi-finals.
Her child’s greater focus was on the ice cream she had in front of her. “So, I was not her priority,” said Svitolina. “She is still at this age when she doesn’t care if I win, if I lose. She’s just happy by herself or sometimes when I come back home she’s happy too.”
Being away from them has been hard but rewarded with a stunning run on the grass, including edging two thrillers – first against Victoria Azarenka and then against Iga Swiatek to set up a last-four encounter against another unexpected semi-finalist in Marketa Vondrousova tomorrow.
Tennis’ new supermum has no plans to bring over her husband or daughter for her final days of Wimbledon. Monfils is currently recovering from the injury he sustained playing at the French Open where Svitolina also surprised in a run to the quarter-finals.
“I wouldn’t want to change much things,” she said. “I’m not really superstitious but I don’t want to jinx a few things. He’s happy at home, he’s watching from home with Skai and with my parents. He has his routines as well before my match. He’s also right now recovering and getting ready for the US swing. I’ll let him stay at home for now.”
Svitolina readily admits she had expected to be back home by now, to the extent that she had booked tickets to see a Harry Styles concert a few days ago, which she was forced to miss because she was playing.
The former One Direction singer has since directly messaged her to offer her tickets to any gig date she can make but she is unsure she can make it in the aftermath of her Wimbledon run.
As well as earning the attention of Styles, the 28-year-old has provided a major boost for her war-torn country Ukraine, which is still in the midst of the Russian invasion.
“I’m happy I can bring a little happiness to their life,” she said. “There were many videos on the internet where kids were watching on their phones. This really makes my heart melt seeing this. Just happy I could bring a little happiness to the people of Ukraine.”
Prior to taking time out from the sport to have a baby, Svitolina had been a one-time world No3 back in 2017 and reached two grand slam semi-finals in the 2019 season at Wimbledon and then the US Open.
In the second part of her career, she has looked like a different player, more aggressive and less prone to letting matches slip. She says it is a combination of factors.
“I think it’s a mixture of everything,” she said. “I think the war made me stronger. Mentally, I don’t take difficult situations like a disaster. There are worse things in life. I’m just more calm.
“Also, I have different pressures. Of course, I want to win. I have this motivation, like huge motivation to come back to the top but I think having a child and war made me a different person. I look at things a bit differently.
“I also think it’s less years that I have in front than behind me. I have to go for it. I don’t have time to lost anymore. I don’t know how many years I will be playing more. So I just try to tell myself to go for it.”
