Elina Svitolina has blossomed under adversity

Elina Svitolina is unlikely to appear on any pundit’s short list of Australian Open title contenders for 2024. But if you were to create a survey of the most admirable player in the sport, her name surely would top the list.

Over the course of the past two years, Svitolina has responded to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the aggressor’s ongoing depredations with great verve, determination and—above all—grace. She has done so while managing a marriage, navigating childbirth and re-building a career. The 29-year old native of Odessa has borne herself with enormous dignity through all of it.

“I'm with her all the way. She's incredible,” Czech star Marketa Vondrousova said of Svitolina, whom she defeated in last year's Wimbledon semifinals. “I think she's incredible with everything. She's fighting so much for everything. Now she's just playing amazing tennis also. She's a super woman, I think.”

Many shared those sentiments. After Svitolina upset top seed Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon, Jessica Pegula remarked: “It's such an incredible story. Obviously her being Ukrainian, having a baby, coming back, beating Iga. There's so many dynamics. Yeah, it's crazy to think that she's done that.”

Svitolina continued to build on her success at Roland Garros, where she reached the quarterfinals, and at Wimbledon until she drained her well of emotional and physical resources at the end of the North American hard-court swing. She closed up shop for 2023 following a tough loss to Jessica Pegula in the third round of the US Open. In her inaugural event of 2024, in Auckland, Svitolina reached the final.

Coco Gauff defeated Svitolina in that final (full highlights above), but it happened fewer than 24 hours after Svitolina survived a two-and-a-half hour clash with another young US Open champ, Emma Raducanu. That match left Svitolina carrying hip, back and foot injuries into the final.

After her steely performance in the championship match, Svitolina explained that her motivation lay close to the surface.

“I always remind myself that there are people right now, men and women, who are fighting for our country,” Svitolina told the New Zealand Herald, describing her commitment to pushing through injuries and exhaustion to the bitter end, regardless of the outcome.

Currently ranked No. 23, Svitolina explained that she is borrowing the courage and “unbreakable spirit” of her compatriots fighting for the homeland. It is motivational, and it brings out the “best version” of herself.

“I’m really proud that I’m Ukrainian, proud that we have this spirit in us. We are fighting for our freedom and this is what I have every day in me,  just huge motivation to give 100 percent each time I step on the court.”

It seems borderline obscene to talk about positive outcomes from the situation in Ukraine. But the transformation of Svitolina from a cheerful and compliant athlete is one of them. Any convictions she may have had outside the realm of tennis strategy were unknown through the early years of her career. She’s the proverbial “nice kid” who found a cause larger than herself in the suffering of her fellow Ukrainians. She’s an empath who will not let us check our humanity at the turnstile while we go get entertained.

Not since Andre Agassi abandoned his self-absorption to become a player—nay, a public person—of consequence have we witnessed such a profound evolution.

As in Agassi’s case, a measure of domestic tranquility has helped move along this metamorphosis. Gael Monfils and Svitolina announced their engagement in April 2021, less than a year before the invasion of Ukraine. The partnership surprised and delighted many. It also vaulted Svitolina, an under-the-radar player, onto the terra incognita of celebrity owing to the star power of her flamboyant husband. She has handled it well. The couple had their first child, a girl named Skai, in mid-May of 2022.

With the Russian invasion in full swing, Svitolina took off most of 2022 and the early part of ‘23 to mother her child while also undertaking major charity work for Ukraine. Some of it was done through foundations, including her own, which she started for the benefit of Ukrainian youth in 2019. She has made numerous appearances on behalf of Ukraine, and visited her country twice since the invasion—most recently in November. The visits are morale-boosters, but they also allow her to visit with family and friends, some of whom are serving on the front lines.

The long hiatus that started in 2022 also allowed Svitolina to hit the refresh button as a player. With help and advice from Monfils and his team, she turned to Dutch former pro Raemon Sluiter to help re-engineer her game during the first three months of 2023. The results speak for themselves: Svitolina 2.0 plays with greater variety, better use of pace, less fear—“more freely,” is how she put it—than ever before. She hits flatter and has overcome her fear of volleying.

The success that came along with letting go of game-born anxieties and inhibitions has helped her manage the stress she faces on a daily basis in the lap of pro-tour luxury. Imagine the feelings: from one day to the next, Ukrainians are obliged to compete with Russian and Belarusian individuals who have national hero status back at home. Very few among them have expressed any meaningful support—never mind solidarity—with their beleaguered peers.

Due partly to the actions (or lack thereof) of the tours, everyone has become anesthetized to this “new normal”—everyone but Ukrainians, for whom the tours did next to nothing while going to war with Wimbledon on behalf of players from the aggressor nations. It’s a wonder that Svitolina has restricted her protest to skipping the post-match handshake and eloquent, well-considered comments on the surreal situation.

First thing upon waking up, Svitolina checks a special channel on Telegram for war news, hoping that no friend or acquaintance has been found buried in rubble, blown up by a landmine or shot to pieces. The process, she said at Roland Garros, leaves her feeling “Anger, sadness, just heaviness. . . this heaviness I have, that all Ukrainians have. You cannot escape from this.”

While escape is impossible, her family provides comfort, support and solace—perhaps even joy and the kind of optimism new parents usually feel. On her better days, Svitolina can even appreciate the benefits of her talent and occupation.

“I’m here in a safe place and I have this amazing opportunity to play tennis in front of so many people—the sport that I love,” said Svitolina. “I have to treasure this moment.”

Of course, Svitolina is also fighting in her own dignified way in this “safe place” that sometimes turns a blind eye to the cruelties of life outside its perimeter.