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Elina Svitolina recently reacted to a post celebrating her return to the top 20 on the WTA rankings since coming back from maternity leave.
The Ukrainian took a break from tennis in March 2022, primarily due to health problems and emotional exhaustion stemming from the war between Ukraine and Russia. Two months into her hiatus, she announced that she was expecting her first child with husband and French tennis star Gael Monfils. In October 2022, she gave birth to their daughter Skai.
On Tuesday, a Svitolina fanpage on Instagram posted a graphic that showed the Ukrainian's current WTA ranking of No. 19. The account also added a congratulatory message to the post.
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“Elina Svitolina is back into the top 20 in WTA ranking 10 months since her comeback. Incredible 🤩👏👏” the post was captioned.
A few hours later, Svitolina shared the post on her Instagram story, captioning it with a red heart emoji and a smiling face emoji with hearts.
Svitolina is not the only mother returning to the tennis court after childbirth.
Former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki made a comeback in August 2023 after a three-year hiatus due to the birth of her two children.
Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber, with seven Grand Slam singles titles between them, are the latest to return to the tennis court after childbirth. Osaka made her return at the 2024 Brisbane International, while Kerber's comeback tournament was the 2024 United Cup, where she was part of the German team that emerged victorious.
Major highlights from Elina Svitolina's career since her return from maternity leave
Since Elina Svitolina returned to tennis at the Credit One Charleston Open in April 2023, she has been firing on all cylinders.
Two months after her comeback, Svitolina won the Internationaux de Strasbourg by defeating Russia's Anna Blinkova in the final in straight sets.
The Ukrainian then competed in the French Open, but was knocked out in the quarterfinals by Aryna Sabalenka. En route to the quarterfinals, she defeated Martina Trevisan, Storm Hunter, Anna Blinkova, and Daria Kasatkina.
Svitolina also had an amazing run at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships by reaching the semifinals. In the first round, she defeated 5-time winner Venus Williams. She went on to defeat Elise Mertens, Sofia Kenin, and Victoria Azarenka in the second, third, and fourth rounds. She then defeated World No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals. The Ukrainian was then defeated by eventual champion Marketa Vondrousova in the semifinals.
In 2024, Svitolina kicked off her 2024 season at the ASB Classic in Auckland. There, she defeated the likes of Caroline Wozniacki, Emma Raducanu, Marie Bouzkova, and Xiyu Wang before being defeated in the final by defending champion Coco Gauff.
Elina Svitolina also competed in the 2024 Australian Open; however, she retired in her Round of 16 match against Linda Noskova due to a back injury. She defeated Taylah Preston, Viktoriya Tomova, and Viktorija Golubic prior to her matchup with Noskova.
