"I try to remind myself of what my friends, my family, are dealing with": Elina Svitolina's Ukraine mission to inspire hope in hard times
WTA
Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina has not been shy regarding her feelings about the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the former World No.3 reiterated her mission to inspire people in her home country who are going through difficult times.
Svitolina took some time away from the sport in 2022 to give birth to her first child with husband, French tennis player Gael Monfils. The 29-year old made an astounding comeback in 2023, winning her 17th career title at Strasbourg before reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and defeating World No.1 Iga Swiatek en route to a semifinal appearance at Wimbledon.
Ukrainian fan support spurs the Svitolina to do better
"I feel like I have a mission right now in so many different ways," said Svitolina. "A lot of Ukrainians are messaging me on Instagram & coming up to me when I was in Ukraine. It is really sweet. They are saying ‘I’m watching matches.’ It is tough days for them with 80 to 90 rocket attacks, but they are finding time to watch my matches. It is really an unbelievable feeling.
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"Each time I have some tough situations, I try to remind myself of what my friends, my family, are dealing with in Ukraine, the horrible situations. I have to be grateful for the moments I get right now, playing big tournaments in front of so many people. As Billie Jean King says, ‘pressure is a privilege.’ I take it this way… I know each match I am playing, I am going out feeling like it is my own battle that I have, not only to bring happiness & different headlines, but to continually remind people we still need help for kids, schools."
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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