Svitolina's husband misses "unbelievable" Wimbledon run to babysit daughter

11 July 2023 , 17:29

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Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina got married in 2021 and had their first child together last year (Image: Sam Tabone/Getty Images)

Elina Svitolina's husband Gael Monfils was absent for her stunning win over world No.1 Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon on Tuesday, with the Frenchman at home looking after their young daughter Skai instead.

Svitolina has enjoyed a fairytale Wimbledon comeback, having missed last year's tournament due to her pregnancy. The Ukrainian only returned to action in April, just six months after giving birth, and is already beating the world's best.

So far at Wimbledon, Svitolina has beaten the legendary seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams, 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, two-time Grand Slam winner Victoria Azarenka and now top seed Swiatek.

Her husband, however, was forced to withdraw from Wimbledon after injuring his wrist at the French Open and is supporting Svitolina from home where he is looking after Skai. "He wants me to come back because he's really tired," she joked after her win over Kenin in the third round.

"But it's okay. He's like, Okay, you're playing well, so it's okay. So yeah, he's enjoying [it]. He's now home with two of our mums, as well. There is a big team taking care of Skai right now."

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Reflecting on her upset win over Swiatek, Svitolina said: "I don't know what is happening right now in my head. Just really unbelievable. I'm really, really happy that I got this chance to play here again and playing this great match in a great atmosphere.

"It was really an unbelievable feeling for me. It was not easy today to play against Iga obviously. She is world number one and she is always fighting. Today was an unbelievable match and I'm really happy I could win this one."

"I always have high expectations," she said earlier in the tournament. "It might sound arrogant maybe, but I will always have high expectations for myself. Each time I play the tournament, I want to win it. Doesn't matter.

"Even the first tournament that I played in Charleston, everybody was telling me, 'Oh, it's unbelievable, you're playing your first tournament already in April', but I even then had a goal to win the tournament because, you know, why I'm playing then? You know, shoot for the moon and you might land in the stars."

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Matthew Cooper