Elina Svitolina Bio: Gaël Monfils, Rankings & Net Worth

Elina Mykhailivna Svitolina is the highest-ranked Ukrainian tennis player and has accumulated prize money of $21.4 million as of 2024.

She started training at 13 and turned pro three years later at 16. However, she has been a tennis fan since she was a child. 

Besides that, the former World No.3 is the first Ukrainian player to rank in the Top-10 WTA ranking. As of now, she holds the No.5 ranking. Media and critics praise her dedication to the sport generously. 

Elina is also famous for dating French professional tennis player and 2005 Newcomer of the Year Gaël Monfils. Now, the couple is married and happily living with their daughter.

As for her career, the former world No 3 Elina Svitolina admitted she didn’t touch a racket for seven months after announcing her break from tennis.

Elina might come back in 2023, although no news about her or any news competition has surfaced.

Before getting into details about the upcoming star tennis player, here are some quick facts about her.

Quick Facts

Early Life, Family & Education

Elina Svitolina was born in Odessa, Ukraine, to Mikhaylo Svitolina and Olena Svitolina. Her parents were athletes, so she was encouraged to participate in sports and academics.

Michael was a professional wrestler; his wife, Olena, was an experienced rower. The duo was very supportive of their daughter’s choices.

However, during the initial stages of her professional career, the pair’s involvement in her career was a bit overwhelming for the Ukrainian player. Hence, as any supportive parents, they gave her space and let her fulfill her dreams.

Also, Elina has an older brother named Yulian Svitolina, who used to play tennis as a child. She was most inspired to be a tennis player by the attention her brother received from it.

Yulian, himself, is a tennis coach and still serves as an inspiration to his little sister.

Because of her tennis dedication, she was discovered by businessman Yuriy Sapronov who sponsored her when she was 13.

The businessman was impressed by her skills and wanted to invest in her. As a result, the Svitolina family moved to Kharkiv, Ukraine, to train properly.

After high-school graduation, she did not attend college. 

Age, Height & Weight

The successful player is 29 years old as of 2024 April. She is very fit. Svitolina weighs about 132.3 lbs and is 1.75 m tall.

Tennis Career

Early Career

Although Elina has played since she was five, she seriously focused on her career when she turned 13. When Svitolina was just 14, she won the Junior French Open event.

She reached her first singles final as a professional player at the $25,000 tournament in 2010. The Ukrainian player was also a semifinalist at the 2012 Wimbledon Championship.

However, she lost to a Canadian tennis player. Nevertheless, shortly after, she qualified for the U.S. Open. Besides that, as a junior player, she won WTA 125K Royal Indian Open after defeating several fantastic players, including a top-10 player.

First WTA Title, Grand Slam & Olympic Quarterfinal (2013 – 2016)

Elina won her first WTA title at the 2013 Baku Cup and became the first teenager to do so since 2012.

Following her win, WTA ranked her as a No. 49 player. In the 2014 Australian Open, she defeated a two-time Grand Slam champion before losing in the third round.

In like manner, she won the Baku Cup again, along with winning the Western and Southern Open.

Also, she reached the quarterfinal at the Premier-5 level for the first time in 2014. Likewise, she was also the Premier-5 semifinalist in Wuhan’s first edition of the WTA tournament.

In the 2015 Australian Open, the Ukrainian player started well but eventually lost to Russian player Maria Sharapova. Nonetheless, she defeated the well-known world No.1 American player and one of her idols Serena Williams.

Later, she defeated many players in Indian Wells to upgrade her ranking to a No. 21 player.

After that, a successful play at the French Open landed her at No. 17 in the tournament. Eli played against Japanese player Naomi Osaka in the 2016 Australian Open but lost.

Besides WTA, she also represented her country, Ukraine, at the 2016 Olympics. Svitolina played with Ukrainian player Alexandr Oleksandrovych Dolgopolov.

Following a poor loss in the 2016 French Open to Serena Williams, she beat her at the Rio Olympics to become the quarterfinalist.

Three Premier-5 titles, Top 3 Ranking & WTA Finals Champion

After an average career in the 2016 WTA tournament, she brought her A-game back and won three Premier-5 titles in 2017. Elina started very strong in the Australian Open and Taiwan Open.

Later, she won the Dubai Tennis Championships against Caroline Wozniacki and earned her first Premier-5 level title.

She won the 2017 Italian Open, followed by a win at the Canadian Open in Toronto. Furthermore, WTA ranked her world No. 1 on September 11, 2017.

In the 2018 WTA Finals, Svitolina won against 2019 world No. 4 Dutch tennis player Kiki Bertens and claimed the biggest career title. Furthermore, in 2019, she reached the Indian Wells semifinals.

Eventually, she reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon, where Simona Halep defeated the Ukrainian player. In her second Grand Slam semifinal, Serena Williams defeated her in straight sets at the U.S. Open in 2019.

After that, Svitolina announced a temporary break from competition on 31 March 2022. The reasons she stated were her health issues, including back pain and emotional exhaustion due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Elina decided to return in 2023, so fans expected she would participate in the ongoing 2023 Australian Open, although she didn’t.

Gaël Sébastien Monfils

The Ukrainian player was dating a fellow tennis player from the ATP named Gaël Sébastien Monfils. In 2020, the ATP ranked Monfils No. 9 worldwide, and he had his career-high rank of No.6 in 2016.

Furthermore, along with being the 2005 ATP Newcomer of the Year, he is also a ten-time ATP World Tour singles titles holder. Besides that, he has reached the Grand Slam singles semifinals twice and ATP Tour Masters 1000 singles finals three times in his tennis career.

Gaël Sébastien Monfils has won eleven ATP Tour singles titles and has reached at least one ATP Tour singles final every year since 2005. Even though Monfils has no Grand Slam titles under his nose, he is considered one of the best in the tennis world.

Recently, Monfils at the 2022 Mutua Madrid Open played his first clay tournament. Following this, Monfils missed the 2022 French Open and grass season due to heel surgery.

After three months, Monfils returned to the Montreal Masters. He ended his season on 31 October 2022 with a foot injury.

Relationship, Marriage & Firstborn

Despite knowing each other for a while, the duo sparked their relationship in late 2018 after Eli’s tournament win.

They connected through Instagram after he commented on her photo and have been inseparable. The adorable duo confirmed their dating at the 2019 Australian Open.

However, there were rumors of their breakup swirling around in June 2019. The pair reportedly deactivated their social media account and unfollowed each other.

The pair announced their engagement on social media around the 1st week of April 2021, just a month after they decided to break up. Gael officially took it to Twitter and posted a heartening photo of Svitolina’s left hand with a diamond on her ring finger.

Gael just stood there in the background against a snowy mountain scenery. He tweeted the post with a heart emoji where he wrote, “She said Yes.”

Moreover, according to WTA tennis, Elina credits Monfils for all her tennis performances and says Monfils’s presence positively impacts her life.

She added, “I always love how he pushes me to improve. Moreover, I also try to motivate him to be a better person and a better tennis player. I think this is how it must be, and you must support each other and push for better results.”

They got married after some months on June 16, 2021, and later got blessed with a daughter, Skaï Monfils, in 2022.

Elina Svitolian & Her Tattoos

Elina seems to be a stigmatophile, as she loves tattooing, especially when it carries or symbolizes a significant meaning. Let’s talk about her tattoos.

‘Carpe Diem’ Tattoo

Elina has inked a word tattoo that says “Carpe Diem” on the corner of her right hand, which means living in the present ‘seize the day.’

The tattoo is common among many as the word emphasizes living and enjoying the present without thinking of the future result.

‘Om’ Tattoo

On the inner side of Elina’s right wrist is a tattoo that says Om, a sacred spiritual symbol in Hinduism.

‘Geometrical Tiger Portrait’ Tattoo

Elina’s left upper thigh has a tiger tattoo inked. It signifies your strength, courage, and confidence. She got this tattoo done in 2017.

Elina Svitolina Invites Roger Federer To The Practice Court

In May 2021, a video caught too much attention where Gael Monfils got hurt while practicing tennis over the weekend. 

The tennis legend Roger Federer was called upon to show off his legendary accuracy in a target practice drill with Monfils. 

The goal was not to hit Gael, and the result turned out to be exactly the opposite, where Gael got hurt.

“I know it’s a big challenge for you, but try to relax your arm, and you can do it,” Svitolina suggested to Federer.

Net Worth & Salary

The 15-time WTA titleholder has an impressive net worth. Being only 29, she has a net worth of $12 million. Besides that, she has won approximately $21.4 million in prize money. 

The WTA player is also sponsored and endorsed by well-known brands like Nike and Wilson Sporting Goods Company. Previously, Ellesse and Lacoste supported her clothing apparel and sporting goods.

Currently, the athlete owns a beautiful place in London and resides there. Apart from that, she also has a home in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Moreover, she owns a raw, vegan, sugar-free, and gluten-free nutrition bar named SVITFIT. 

Monfils, her boyfriend, has a net worth of $10 million. He has earned over $20.9 million in prize money.

The ATP player was formerly sponsored by Head, Nike, Prince, and K-Swiss. As of now, the Japanese multinational corporation ASICS supports his apparel, and Wilson sponsors his rackets.

Social Media Presence

The WTA No. 5 player is very active on social media. She is on Instagram with 861k followers and almost a twelve hundred posts. 

Elina shares photos of her training, matches, highlights, and wins. Besides that, she posts about her family, friends, boyfriend, nutrition bars, trips, and selfies.

She recently did a photoshoot and uploaded its picture on her Instagram.

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Elina Monfils (@elisvitolina)

Svitolina has been on Twitter since 2011, with over 176.8k followers. She follows over a hundred people and mostly tweets and retweets about tennis and her matches. 

Elina is also on Facebook, with over 402k followers. 

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