"She has two grandmothers taking care of her" - Elina Svitolina opens up about difficulties of spending time away from her daughter Skai

Elina Svitolina has been successful, winning a tour title and putting great performances at Grand Slams, since returning to the WTA Tour after her maternity break. The Ukrainian recently opened up about the tough task of balancing tennis and motherhood ahead of the 2024 Roland Garros.

Elina Svitolina and her husband, French tennis star Gael Monfils, welcomed their first child, a baby daughter named Skai, in October 2022. The pregnancy kept Svitolina out of action until April 2023. Since returning to the tour, the 29-year-old has rapidly risen on the WTA Rankings after a string of excellent performances.

She won the title at the 2023 Strasbourg Open in the lead-up to the French Open, where she reached the quarterfinals. This was followed by her first Grand Slam semifinal appearance since 2019 at the Wimbledon Championships. The Ukrainian is currently in the midst of her title defense at Strasbourg and talked about how she is managing her bustling tennis career with parenthood.

In an interview with Roland Garros, the World No. 17 stated that it is difficult for her and Monfils to stay away from Skai during their tournaments. While Skai's grandmothers are there to help out the tennis power couple, Svitolina and Monfils often try to be with their daughter in between travel commitments for tournaments.

“It is tough for us for sure to be apart from her, but I think it’s important that she has her routines at home, she has two grandmothers taking care of her. As soon as we’re done, we easily can go back, it’s a short flight and we’re there. We also try to balance it and see how she feels and how we feel, so it’s a family decision,” Elina Svitolina said.

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"It’s tougher now than it was before for me to travel" - Elina Svitolina

Elina Svitlina

During the conversation, Elina Svitolina was asked whether her spot in the top 20 and the pressure of defending points are adding to her motivation on the court. The Ukrainian replied that it is "tough" to enjoy tennis so much when it means staying away from Skai, especially when results don't go her way.

“It’s a tough question because we’re travelling so much and being away from Skaï, it’s difficult. I try not to put too much emphasis on this, but it’s tough. So I would say it’s tougher now than it was before for me to travel. When you don’t have the results that you want, it’s difficult because you feel like you wish you could be at home with Skaï. But this is a choice that you have to make,” she added.

At the current tournament in Strasbourg, Svitolina began her title defense with a convincing win over local player Diane Parry, 6-3, 6-4. The No. 7 seed will face another Frenchwoman, Clara Burel, in the second round on May 22.

Elina Svitolina came to Strasbourg after a fourth-round finish at the WTA 1000 Italian Open. Her other top performances this year came at the ASB Classic in Auckland (final) and Australian Open (fourth round).