"One beer please" – Elina Svitolina divulges hilarious interaction with coach Raemon Sluiter after 2R win at Citi Open

Elina Svitolina engaged in a hilarious exchange with her coach Raemon Sluiter after winning her second match at the WTA 500 Citi Open in Washington, D. C.

On Wednesday, Svitolina defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-2 to progress to the quarterfinals. Before her victory over the Russian, she got the better of Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the opening round.

Just hours after her second-round win, the Ukrainian and her coach Raemon Sluiter were spotted in the stands cheering for her husband Gael Monfils as he earned a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Alexander Bublik. With the couple concluding the day with a double triumph, Elina Svitolina decided to unwind as per her latest hilarious confession.

The former World No. 3 revealed that she asked Sluiter to give her permission to drink beer after the hectic day.

“Asking coach for a beer be like…” she wrote on Instagram story, further sharing their conversation.

“Can you take me one beer please,” she requested, adding an adorable cat gif.

“Hahahaha. How can I refuse,” her coach responded.

Elina Svitolina on Instagram

Elina Svitolina and Raemon Sluiter’s partnership is fairly new. The pair teamed up in March this year, when the Ukrainian commenced her comeback journey after giving birth to her and Gael Monfils’ daughter Skai (born in October 2022).

Their partnership has paid dividends from the get-go. In May this year, Svitolina lifted her first WTA trophy as a mother and her 17th overall at the Internationaux de Strasbourg. The 28-year-old continued her outstanding run of form at the French Open as well, reaching the quarterfinals. She then did one better at Wimbledon by reaching the semifinals.

Thanks to her noteworthy results, Elina Svitolina, who had crashed out of the world’s top 1000 following a one-year-long maternity leave, has now re-entered the top 30 in the rankings.

---

"I went back home, I practiced with Gael" - Elina Svitolina on recovering from Wimbledon loss

Elina Svitolina at the 2023 Citi Open

After her Citi Open first-round win over Victoria Azarenka, Elina Svitolina spoke about how she put her Wimbledon defeat behind her ahead of the North American hardcourt swing.

She explained that while her semifinal loss to eventual champion Marketa Vondrousova was a bitter pill to swallow, she managed to recover from the defeat fairly quickly, as compared to her previous deep runs at Grand Slam events.

“Was really upset that I didn't go to the final, but somehow, you know, I still had this motivation to practice and to go for more, rather than some semifinals before the pregnancy where I was like really sad for weeks and didn't want to practice, I was mentally like broke almost,” he observed.

Svitolina said that she took to the tennis court immediately after her SW19 exit. The Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist added that she practiced with her husband Gael Monfils.

“I have been practicing after Wimbledon in a good spirit. I was really hungry to go on the court, and almost the day after when I went back home, I practiced with Gael already after the semifinal,” she said.

The former World No. 3, currently competing at the 2023 Citi Open, now awaits the winner of Jessica Pegula vs Peyton Stearns in the quarterfinals.