At the age of 23 Elina Svitolina has already established herself as a legacy in Ukranian tennis.
A breakthrough 2016 season saw her claim a total of five WTA titles, including three at Premier 5 level. As a result, she became the most decorated player on the tour in singles competition during that season. Rising up to a career best of third in the world rankings to become the first Ukrainian player to crack the top three.
Svitolina’s shot to fame hasn’t gone unnoticed in her homeland. Last year The Kyiv Post listed her in their annual 30 under-30. A list of Ukranian nationals under the age of 30 that are described as ‘future leaders’ by the English-language newspaper. During the off-season, a two-week break back home was more of a media frenzy with the current world No.6 being bombarded by fans.
“I was supposed to rest in Ukraine but I had no time to rest,” she told reporters in Brisbane.
“I was five days in Kiev where I had to do lots of different stuff and lots of different commitments.”
Fortunately the fame has not overwhelmed Svitolina. Instead, she is relishing in the support she is receiving from her fans. Svitolina is one of four women from her country ranked in the top 100 on the WTA Tour. The others are Lesia Tsurenko (42), Kateryna Kozlova (84) and Kateryna Bondarenko (93).
“There are lots of kids coming and telling me that they are watching the matches and even grown-ups telling me that they are staying up at night and watching my matches,” she said.
“It’s good to hear this kind of thing because I don’t spend so much time in Ukraine.
“And when I go to Ukraine and I meet with the fans, it’s always amazing and I almost, you know, cry when I leave the meetings.
“So it’s extremely, extremely nice from them.”
Svitolina is currently playing at the Brisbane International. Seeded third in the draw, she breezed past Ana Konjuh 6-3, 6-1, in her second round match on Wednesday. She will next take on Johanna Konta in the quarter-finals. A player who she has a 2-0 winning head-to-head record against.
