Elina Svitolina has joked that her baby daughter Skaï gave her tips on how to achieve back-to-back wins against
Victoria Azarenka.
Former world No. 3 Svitolina registered impressive back-to-back wins against former world No. 1 Azarenka after taking the victory in their matches against each other at
Wimbledon and the
DC Open.
At the SW19, the players faced each other in the fourth round where Svitolina won 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (9). The Ukrainian player then went on to defeat current world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the quarter-final, before being ousted from the tournament in the semi-final by eventual champion Marketa Vondrousova.
This time around, Svitolina defeated Azarenka in straight sets, winning 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the opening round of the Citi Open.
Svitolina's daughter gave her advice
These two victories are particularly impressive because prior to this, Svitolina was trailing 0-5 in the head-to-head against her Belarussian opponent.
However, the 28-year-old has also had a major development in her personal life since these five defeats. She took a maternity hiatus from tennis in 2022 after becoming pregnant, and she welcomed her daughter Skaï in October of the same year.
During Svitolina's on-court interview after the match in Washington, Rennae Stubbs asked her,
"Before having a child, you were 0-5 against Azarenka.. now you haven’t lost to her. What happened?"
The current world No. 27 then joked that her daughter was responsible for her victories by giving her some advice, replying
"Well, Skaï told me a few tips I guess."
Svitolina hopes for Monfils' success
In addition to her own win, Svitolina is now hoping that her husband, French player
Gael Monfils, will also be successful at the combined ATP and WTA 500 event, saying that it is one of his favourites,
"We talk time to time. Depends which mood we’re in. We both play tennis at such a high level. So tennis is a big part of our life. He’s been preparing really hard for this tournament, US swing, he loves to play here. One of his favorite tournaments," she said.
Her hopes have not been in vain so far, as Monfils made a strong start, defeating Bjorn Fratangelo in straight sets, perhaps suggesting that their daughter is giving tips to both of her parents.