"The wife of the retiring French legend trying to win her first Roland Garros title": Could Elina Svitolina be the ultimate French Open fairytale? Roddick and Wertheim think so
WTAWednesday, 20 May 2026 at 12:00
Elina Svitolina was the story of last week. She managed to win Rome again years after winning it the last two times defeating Coco Gauff in the final.
But amid her excellent form, could it now be the cause for even bigger celebration. Could the fairytale be achieved of her husband Gael Monfils retiring and her managing to win the French Open?
Wertheim stoked such a fairytale by saying that it could be a catalyst for something even bigger. "I think the answer is yes. Maybe not according to ranking, but look at her results this year. Look at who she has beaten and when she has beaten them. She’s playing at such a high level. I think she’s beaten every single player ranked above her this year as well," said Wertheim on Served.
"It’s just a great story. I thought you were going in another direction, though. Could there be a better story on the women’s side than the wife of the retiring French legend trying to win her first Roland Garros title?"
For Roddick though even, he said that ultimately she has still got the same coach as before which makes it staggering as she is a completely different player. "What did we always used to say about Svitolina? Great athlete, but she’d get into these defensive patterns. She could get to the quarter-finals or semi-finals of majors, but eventually she’d get hit through.
"That’s not happening anymore. Interestingly enough, she’s working with the same coach she had before maternity leave, Andrew Bettles, but she looks like a completely different player."
"Have you ever seen this before, where a player comes back as a manifestly different player? She doesn’t look like the same player she was in 2017, 2018, 2019. She’s playing great," he pondered to Wertheim.
Wertheim looked back also on when she reached the latter stages of the French Open prior to returning after becoming a mother and he said that back then it was a missed chance and now she has just changed.
"Not to this extreme. I had to remind myself, and I’m glad you brought it up, because I was going down the same route. What I remembered from Svitolina in her prime before becoming a mother was that she was very solid. She wasn’t going to beat herself. She was always there. Great returns, didn’t miss much, tactically sound," he responded.
"But there was always someone, whether it was Serena Williams, Ashleigh Barty, or someone else, who was going to play bigger, hit harder, and potentially bully her. I remember her losing to Leylah Fernandez in the quarter-finals of the US Open the year Emma Raducanu won it, and thinking that was such a good opportunity missed. She’s completely changed."
Elina Svitolina continues to improve.
Only Federer has gone through similar change
For Roddick, he mooted that he has only ever seen Roger Federer go through a similar dramatic change to become even better. "Completely. I’ll say this, I don’t know if she’s the best version of herself ever as an overall tennis player, that’s a fun debate, but I do know for sure that I don’t think she’s ever been more physically fit.
"The movement, the explosiveness, the power… Against Iga Swiatek, she was avoiding long rallies like the plague. She was stepping in on the first ball and taking it to her. She has completely changed her game.
"The only comparison I can think of is maybe Roger Federer when he came back and won the Australian Open after six months off. He started playing first-strike tennis, switched to a bigger racket, took full cuts on backhand returns.
"But even that felt more like an adjustment than a complete overhaul. We’d already seen Roger capable of doing those things, he just started doing them more often.
"With Svitolina, it feels totally different. She wasn’t on her back foot four times against Iga. And by the way, Iga is still a threat, just to be clear.
"And against Coco Gauff too, her ability to stay in the middle of the court, dictate, and get the first strike was never something we associated with Svitolina before her comeback."
Perspective amid war
But also what has been even more alarming throughout this all of course is that she has dealt with this while Ukraine have been invaded by Russia and she has had to deal with the effects of the war. All while she increasingly improves.
I remember her beating Coco in Australia and being the aggressor there too. She was the one imposing herself on the match more than Coco. We saw it again on clay in Rome.
I wonder how much of this came from having time away and reassessing things, “If I want to win a major, I need to change this, this, and this.” But I also wonder if it’s bigger than tennis.
She became a mother. She’s dealing with what her country is going through with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Does that change your worldview entirely? Maybe that’s fanciful, it’s up to her to answer, but I do wonder whether everything happening in her life informed this dramatic change.
It’s not often you see someone in their late twenties or early thirties completely change their approach to the sport. This isn’t just tinkering under the hood. This is a total retooling of her game. I wonder how much of this is X’s and O’s, and how much is about bigger issues she’s confronting.
Roddick saw it differently but got Wertheim's point that she has adapted with age and gone from not thinking she's good enough to believing. "I was going in a slightly different direction, but I think your point is sound.
"When you’re 23 or 24 and people are constantly asking, “Why aren’t you winning a major?”, you’re automatically in a defensive position mentally. Maybe you convince yourself that your current game style is good enough.
"Then she comes back and sees players like Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, and the athleticism of Coco Gauff, and maybe she’s thinking: “Forget it, I’ve got to start ripping the ball.”
"If that style of play wasn’t working when she had the wheels at 24, why would it work now? So I actually think there’s something to what you’re talking about."
Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.
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- Silly child. May she learn the art of forgivenessRapunzel19-05-2026
- Some bold French Open predictions in this one 😁. My money is on Gauff and Swiatek.
MrAndreeva18-05-2026 - I didn't see them -- where were The God's sitting??
mandoist17-05-2026 - What a crock-o-shit this media attack is! There are plenty of such incidents to choose from in tennis. Players often walk past as they are concentrating on what's coming. Some realize it and turn back to connect with the kid; some just simply are focused elsewhere and should not be anti-Social Media Slammed for it. Wasting space online when there are more important subjects to cover.mandoist17-05-2026
- May God continue to bless and anointing this beautiful young woman!Rapunzel17-05-2026
- Poor sap. She dumped him with a Capital "D" !! Oh well... as long he "doesn't tell me what to do" he may survive most of this season.mandoist15-05-2026
- Anytime your opponent blows their opportunities can be called "luck". Have to admit though, Gauff can run like hell. Ditto for Svitolina. Of course there's always that old addage: "Have to be Good to be Lucky".mandoist15-05-2026
- They should change the name 'Wildcard' to "Sponsorship Card".mandoist15-05-2026
- Unreal. The amount of luck Coco Gauff had in that last game was simply insane. Most players need 14 matches to get that lucky.MrAndreeva12-05-2026
- Her body mass is too much for the pace of a chamopinship run. Time is catching-up to her.mandoist10-05-2026
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