Career Timeline of Elina Svitolina: Major Achievements and Milestones

How Elina Svitolina built a successful career. Explore key moments that defined the journey.

Elina Svitolina is a Ukrainian professional tennis player who has achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 3 in singles. Svitolina has secured 18 WTA Tour singles titles, notably winning the 2018 WTA Finals. Furthermore, she has reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament three times in her career.

Sections (3)

Full Timeline Early Life & Education Career & Achievements

1999: Comparison to Serena Williams

Elina Svitolina became the third player in the Open Era to defeat four former major champions in a single Grand Slam tournament after Serena Williams at the 1999 US Open and Justine Henin at Roland Garros in 2005.

2003: Yulian Svitolin began coaching Elina

In 2003, Yulian Svitolina began his full-time coaching career as the head coach of his younger sister, Elina Svitolina, for 5 years.

2005: Comparison to Justine Henin

May 2010: First professional singles final

In May 2010, Elina Svitolina reached her first professional singles final at the $25k tournament in Kharkiv.

February 2012: First teenager win

In February 2012, Svitolina became the first teenager to win a WTA tournament.

2012: Final at Wimbledon Championships

In 2012, Elina Svitolina reached the final of the girls' singles event at the Wimbledon Championships, where she lost to Eugenie Bouchard.

2012: First time missing win since 2012

In 2019, Elina Svitolina failed to win a title, marking the first time since 2012 that she did not secure a title in a year.

July 2013: Broke into the Top 50

In July 2013, Elina Svitolina first broke into the world's top 50 in tennis rankings.

July 2013: Won First WTA Title at Baku Cup

In July 2013, Elina Svitolina won her first WTA title at the Baku Cup, defeating Shahar Pe'er.

2013: Coached by Sébastien Mathieu

In 2013, Elina Svitolina was coached by Sébastien Mathieu.

2014: Coached by Sébastien Mathieu

In 2014, Elina Svitolina was coached by Sébastien Mathieu.

2014: Won the İstanbul Cup in doubles

In 2014, Elina Svitolina won one of her two doubles titles at the İstanbul Cup.

June 2015: Reached the Top 20

In June 2015, Elina Svitolina reached the top 20 in tennis rankings.

February 2016: Justine Henin joins coaching team

In February 2016, former world No. 1 Justine Henin joined Elina Svitolina's coaching team, adding to her existing coaching staff.

November 2016: Split from Iain Hughes

In November 2016, Elina Svitolina split from her coach Iain Hughes, with whom she had worked for two and a half years. She also announced Gabriel Urpí as her new coach, with Thierry Ascione replacing Justine Henin as her new coaching consultant.

2016: Garbiñe Muguruza defeated Svitolina

During the 2019 French Open, Elina Svitolina was defeated in the third round by the 2016 champion, Garbiñe Muguruza.

2016: Premier Mandatory semifinal

In 2016, Elina Svitolina reached her first Premier Mandatory semifinal since at Indian Wells, where she lost to Bianca Andreescu.

2016: Endorsement by Nike

Since 2016, Elina Svitolina had been endorsed by Nike for clothing and shoes, after having previously been sponsored by Ellesse and Lacoste.

May 2017: Reached the Top 10

In May 2017, Elina Svitolina reached the top 10 in tennis rankings, making her the first Ukrainian woman to achieve this after Alona Bondarenko.

May 2017: Defeat to player outside top 30

Since May 2017, Elina Svitolina faced her sixth defeat to a player ranked outside the top 30 at a major event.

2017: Strong showing in Brisbane

In 2017, Elina Svitolina began the season with a strong showing in Brisbane, defeating world No. 1 Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals.

2018: Won Brisbane International title

In 2018, Elina Svitolina began her season by capturing the Brisbane International title, defeating Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the final.

2018: Won the WTA Finals

In 2018, Elina Svitolina won the WTA Finals, adding to her achievements which also include three Premier 5-level tournaments.

2018: Svitolina won the 2018 WTA Finals

In 2018, Elina Svitolina won the WTA Finals. This victory is one of her 18 WTA Tour singles titles, and she has also reached three major singles semifinals in her career.

2018: Advanced to final for the first time since winning title

In 2018, Elina Svitolina won the title.

2018: Changes in Coaching Team

Throughout 2018, Elina Svitolina had a brief stint with Nick Saviano while still accompanied by Andrew Bettles. By the end of the year, Bettles became her full-time coach.

2019: Reached major semifinals in 2019

In 2019, Elina Svitolina achieved her best Grand Slam performances by reaching the semifinals at both Wimbledon and the US Open.

2020: 2020 Summer Olympics

At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Elina Svitolina won the bronze medal in singles tennis, securing Ukraine's first-ever Olympic medal in tennis.

2020: Marcos Baghdatis Joins as Coach

In 2020, former player Marcos Baghdatis started working with Elina Svitolina as part of her coaching team.

2021: US Open

Elina Svitolina reached the fourth round at the French Open defeating 26th seed Martina Trevisan, along with comeback wins over qualifier Storm Hunter, and again over Anna Blinkova. She went on to defeat the ninth seed Daria Kasatkina to book her spot in a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the ninth time in her career, her fourth at the French Open and her first at a major since the US Open in 2021.

2021: Split from Andrew Bettles

Following the end of her 2021 season, Elina Svitolina split with Andrew Bettles. She announced that Andis Juška would be her new coach and Gunter Bresnik would be her consultant.

2021: Won Olympic bronze medal in 2021

In 2021, Elina Svitolina won the Olympic bronze medal in women's singles at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, marking the first Olympic tennis medal for Ukraine.

2022: Maternity Leave Hiatus

In 2022, Elina Svitolina took a maternity leave hiatus from the tour.

April 2023: Returns to Tour with Raemon Sluiter

In April 2023, following her maternity leave hiatus in 2022, Elina Svitolina returned to the tour with Raemon Sluiter as her coach.

June 2023: Returned to the Top 100

On 12 June 2023, Elina Svitolina returned to the top 100 in tennis rankings.

July 2023: Svitolina Supports Olga Kharlan

In July 2023, Elina Svitolina voiced her support for Ukrainian sabre champion Olga Kharlan, who was disqualified at the World Fencing Championships for not shaking the hand of her Russian opponent. Svitolina questioned why Russians don't respect their position and called for other sports federations to follow the WTA's lead in supporting Ukrainian players who choose not to shake hands with Russian or Belarusian opponents, describing the FIE's disqualification as "disrespectful" towards Ukrainians.

2023: Endorsement by Adidas

In 2023, Elina Svitolina began endorsing Adidas clothing and shoes.

2023: Made a Comeback in 2023

In 2023, Elina Svitolina made a strong comeback to tennis, winning a WTA Tour title and reaching the French Open quarterfinals and the Wimbledon semifinals, including a victory over Iga Świątek.

July 2024: Split from Raemon Sluiter

On 19 July 2024, Elina Svitolina announced that she had split from her coach, Raemon Sluiter.

2024: Early End to 2024 Season

Elina Svitolina concluded her 2024 season prematurely in September, due to her withdrawal from the China Open following surgery.

2024: Australian Open Retirement

In 2024, Elina Svitolina reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, but she had to retire during her match against Linda Noskova due to a back injury.

2025: Endorsement by Diadem Sports

In 2025 Elina Svitolina endorsed the company Diadem Sports, and started playing with their Axis 98 racquet.

2025: First Ukrainian Player With 100 Grand Slam Wins

In 2025, at the Australian Open, Elina Svitolina became the first Ukrainian player in the Open Era, whether male or female, to achieve 100 main draw wins at Grand Slam tournaments, after her second-round victory over Caroline Dolehide. She went on to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament.