"Beyond excited": Elina Svitolina returns to Ukraine for grandma's birthday in "beautiful Odesa"

Elina Svitolina recently returned to her home country Ukraine to celebrate her grandma's birthday in the city of Odesa.

The Ukrainian player, who has a career-high ranking of World No. 3, is currently on a break from tennis and the WTA Tour after pulling off a successful comeback earlier this year.

Svitolina welcomed her daughter Skai with her husband and French tennis player Gael Monfils in October 2022 and returned from maternity leave at the Charleston Open in early April.

Svitolina then enjoyed solid results throughout the summer, including a run to the semi-finals of Wimbledon. The 28-year-old also faced Belarusian player Victoria Azarenka twice, defeating her both times. Recently, Svitolina explained that those wins were very important to her in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is supported by Belarus.  

Svitolina has been absent from the WTA Tour since the US Open, where she lost to Jessica Pegula in the third round. Since then, she has been spending time with her family and was able to fly to Odesa to celebrate her grandma's birthday.

In terms of the conflict in Ukraine, Odesa was not a main target up until recently due to a deal brokered by the United Nations to allow for the safe passage of grain shipments via the Black Sea. However, Russia pulled out of the agreement and started a wide-scale attack on the city on September 24.

Belgian-Ukrainian tennis player Maryna Zanevska returned home to the city around that time and shared her experience on social media.

"I was so scared, that today I am sore in all of my body. I am shocked how people get used to it," she wrote at the time.

However, Svitolina was able to travel to the city recently and has enjoyed some precious moments with her family. She took to Instagram to share a photo of herself and her grandma with the caption:

"Today is such an amazing day for my dear grandma. It's her birthday. I am beyond excited to be able to celebrate this special occasion with her here in beautiful Odesa," she wrote.