Elina Svitolina is having a fairytale Wimbledon. The Ukrainian tennis player and new mom (she gave birth to daughter, Skaï, in October 2022), just upset world no. 1 Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals to make it to the semis. In doing so, she became the third ever women's wild card to reach the semifinals at the famous Grand Slam tournament.
Here, five things to know about Elina Svitolina:
1. She's from Ukraine.
She was born in Odesa, in 1994. At age 13, her family moved to Kharkiv, but her grandmother still lives in Odessa, and she's been outspoken about the need to support Ukrainians right now. "My grandmother lives on the 13th floor, and she needs to walk all the way up to her apartment because she cannot use the elevator. She could get stuck, or there are no lights at all. I have many friends in different cities, and they tell me the same stories. No lights. No water. They are just sitting at home. Most of the time, the phones die after one day so you cannot connect with them," Svitolina said in January.
In her native country, she has founded The Elina Svitolina Foundation, with the goal of changing lives through tennis."I want to open the door to a great sport for children in my native Ukraine and maybe light up new Ukrainian stars on the world stage. Tennis will teach them self-discipline and the need to work hard every day," she said. "These skills are valuable not only on the court but also in life."
2. She has a career-high ranking of no. 3.
In her career, she's won 17 WTA singles titles, and won the Bronze medal at Tokyo Olympics.
3. She married fellow tennis player Gaël Monfils.
"He has been there every step of the way," Svitolina said of Monflis. "He is a huge support for me. Obviously, he's seeing me every single day, not in the best moods. There have been ups and downs, so I'm really thankful for the support that he's been giving me. I know that it's also tough for him to see me in a bad mood, being sad. And I understand that sometimes can be tough for him, but I really appreciate his love and all the support that he's been giving me."
They married in July 2021, and Svitolina wore a purple and white wedding dress designed by Virgil Abloh of off-white. You can see it here:
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In October 2022, they welcomed a daughter, Skaï. She's since made adorable appearances on her mom's Instagram:
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"So far everything is going well, and we really enjoy our time off the court together, and on the court as well, we try to be focused and play as good as we can," Svitolina said in May. "Of course, it’s really important to have a team for Skaï, who takes care of her, so then we can focus on tennis. And especially at such a big event with lots of pressure and lots of things going on, it’s important that your mind is calm about your child and then you have 100% head[ing] into the tennis."
4. She's outspoken about the war in Ukraine.
"I feel anger. I feel sadness. I feel pain in my heart to see all of that. I have a few Telegram channels where I follow the news of my hometown in Odessa, of all the Ukraine, and they post the news what is happening, when the alarm is on, or where missiles landed, you know, how many missiles were hit by our Ukrainian Army, Air Force," Svitolina said this spring. "These kind of moments I feel mixture of different feelings, but they are bad feelings. You know, they are anger, they are sadness, just heaviness. It’s like this heaviness that I have on a daily basis, and all Ukrainians have. You cannot escape from this, and this is for the past one-and-a-half years we have that in our life."
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She's also met Ukrainian president Volodymr Zelensky. On Instagram, she posted, "Thank you for being a true leader of our nation. The Ukrainian people are UNITED like never before. Glory to Ukraine."
5. She's a Harry Styles fan.
Svitolina, not expecting to make it far at Wimbledon, purchased Harry Styles Love on Tour concert tickets in Vienna. As she kept advancing, she realized she would not make it. She wrote on Instagram last weekend, "Hey guys!! I was supposed to go see my fav Harry Styles concert in Vienna tomorrow... But Wimbledon changed my plans. Someone want to go? I have two tickets."
To her surprise, Harry himself commented, writing, "Congratulations! We have four shows to go, you’re welcome at any of them. Good luck with the rest of the tournament. H"
Emily Burack (she/her) is the news writer for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.