Svitolina bringing ‘light’ to Ukraine with run to semi-finals

Elina Svitolina has the words “carpe diem” tattooed on her right hand.

But “seize the day” was not always a phrase that sat comfortably with her style of tennis.

Known for her defensive play, Svitolina soared up the rankings but struggled for a big breakthrough win at the majors.

However, after having daughter Skai in 2022, Svitolina returned to the tour a different player.

In the past three years, the 31-year-old has reached six Grand Slam quarter-finals, converted two of those into semi-final appearances and swept up three other tour titles.

She has also become a spokesperson for her country; speaking out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, raising funds and keeping the nation’s plight in people’s minds.

Now, a 6-1 6-2 win over world number three Coco Gauff has propelled her back inside the world’s top 10 for the first time since October 2021.

“That was a total annihilation,” former British number one Annabel Croft said on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra.

“Svitolina has been more of a passive tennis player and she is forcing herself to be aggressive and brave in the back end of her tennis career.”

Before her maternity leave, Svitolina won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and had been as high as third in the world rankings.

However, she had some tough losses at the majors, particularly at the quarter-final stage.

Seeded third at the 2020 French Open and the highest-ranked player remaining in the draw, Svitolina was stunned by world number 131 Nadia Podoroska in the last eight.

Her defensive style of play could allow opponents to hit her off the court.

That has changed. She barely let up against Gauff, whose serve and forehand disintegrated. Svitolina hit 12 winners to Gauff’s three, hit four aces and won 71% of first-serve points to overwhelm the American.

Her win over Gauff is her fourth over a top-five player at a major – and all of those victories have come since her return from maternity leave.

“Since I came back after pregnancy, it’s been trying to find those opportunities to attack,” Svitolina said.

“There’s so many aggressive players who, if you’re not at your best, they are taking the match from you.

“You have to evolve your game. You have to be better.”

Svitolina ended her 2025 season early, saying she had “not been feeling like myself”.

She has begun 2026 with a 10-match winning streak – the third-longest of her career. She has dropped just one set in that sequence and triumphed in Auckland shortly before the first major of the year.

“If I would keep pushing last year, I think I wouldn’t start here. I would be exhausted, and even not sure if I would be injury-free,” Svitolina said.

“It was important to just step back. I have no regrets to take this time.”

Svitolina will face a tough task if she is to break further ground. She has lost her past four meetings with her semi-final opponent, world number one Aryna Sabalenka.

But Svitolina knows what all of her victories mean back home.

She took a break from the game in 2022 because of, among other things, the emotional strain of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Svitolina wrote in her BBC column in 2024 that many Ukrainians feel people have lost interest in their ongoing fight to repel the invasion. She speaks about the war frequently in her post-match news conferences and often writes a message to her country on the camera lens after victory.

“For my country, it’s great. I know that lots of people been watching, especially the matches that I had before,” Svitolina said after her victory over Gauff.

“It’s very close to my heart to see a lot of support from Ukrainians. It was, I think, one of the toughest winters for Ukrainian people.

“I feel like [I] bring this light, a little light, to Ukrainian people, to my friends when they are watching my matches.

“It’s a great feeling for me.”