Elina Mykhailivna Svitolina was born on September 12, 1994, in Odesa, Ukraine. Her father, Mikhaylo Svitolin, is a retired wrestler, while her mother, Olena Svitolina, was a former competitive rower.
Svitolina picked up her first wand at the age of five after she was inspired by her older brother Yulian, who received so much publicity from their parents for playing the sport. Svitolina tried to delve into multiple sports as a child, such as basketball, running, and gymnastics, but chose to concentrate on tennis.
Svitolina almost instantly turned heads with her competitive spirit at children's tournaments in Odesa. A Ukrainian businessman by the name of Yuriy Sapronov offered to sponsor Svitolina’s training in Kharkiv after he was convinced by her talent.
At the age of 12, Svitolina and her family moved to the northeast of Ukraine, where Kharkiv city is located, in order to hone her tennis skills. Svitolina had a fine junior career, highlighted by winning the Junior Roland Garros title in 2010, beating Ons Jabeur in the final.
She attained a career-high ranking of No. 1 on the junior circuit that same year. In 2012, Svitolina made her WTA main draw debut, playing her first match in Baku, Azerbaijan, where she lost in the first round to Sandra Zaniewska.
She played her first Grand Slam main draw match at the senior level at the 2012 US Open, entering the event as a qualifier, but lost to Ana Ivanovic. Svitolina’s first WTA match win came in Shenzhen at the start of the 2013 season when she defeated Shahar Peer.
Svitolina would beat the Israeli player to win her first WTA title that same year in Baku and would break the world’s Top 50 for the first time as a result. Svitolina reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the 2015 French Open.
That tournament was a historic moment for Ukrainian tennis as Svitolina would become the highest-ranked Ukrainian female player ever at No. 17. Svitolina won three Premier 5 titles in 2017 (currently the WTA 1000).
These included the Dubai Championships, the Italian Open, and the Canadian Open, which saw her ranking rise to a new career-high of No. 3. It remains the highest distinction by a Ukrainian woman in WTA rankings history.
In 2018, Svitolina won her biggest trophy at the season-ending WTA Finals in Singapore. Although she could not claim any titles in 2019 (the first time it happened since 2012), Svitolina made the semifinals of two Grand Slams that year.
In 2020, Svitolina returned to the winner’s circle, bagging titles in Monterrey and Strasbourg. The following season, Svitolina made history. She became the first Ukrainian to win a tennis medal at the Olympic Games when she finished third and won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.
2021 also saw Svitolina tie the knot with her then-boyfriend and ATP player Gael Monfils. In early 2022, Svitolina took an indefinite break from tennis and later announced that she was pregnant.
She gave birth to her first child in October. Svitolina rejoined the Tour from maternity leave in April 2023. She won her first WTA title as a mother in Strasbourg. Moreover, Svitolina would reach the quarterfinals of Roland Garros and the semifinal of Wimbledon in 2023.
