Elina Svitolina Feels Plenty Of Support For Ukraine In Stuttgart

Elina Svitolina
Elina Svitolina (photo: Porsche AG)

STUTTGART/WASHINGTON, April 15, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

On the eve of her opening match at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina sat down with reporters to discuss what it’s meant to return to the WTA Top 10, her special relationship in representing her country in team competitions and also her personal commitment to Ukrainians in her war-torn home country.

The World No. 7 and fourth seed from Odessa is making her first appearance in Stuttgart since being a semifinalist in 2021. On Wednesday evening, she will face No. 78 Eva Lys of Germany for a berth in the quarterfinal round of the WTA 500-series event.

Since arriving in Stuttgart, Svitolina has been in much demand on the practice court from autograph seekers and fans wishing to take a selfie with the popular Ukrainian. “Well, I feel there is a lot of support in any tournament where I go to play,” she said. “Many Ukrainians I think now, more and more with Internet and with all the social media, there are more Ukrainians aware what tennis is and when they can come and support us.

“Tennis in general is getting more popular over the years, and I feel with now I think it’s six Ukrainians in top 100 – which is amazing for Ukrainian tennis – I think people are starting to discover more the sport. And kids, especially girls, are going, you know, to trainings and, you know, really playing tennis.

“So, it’s nice to have that and I feel for our country to be united together, and I think also sports unite us for the goal to win as many matches in football, boxing, tennis, and other sports. It’s a beautiful thing, because of course when there is a war ongoing, it’s difficult to be in the same routine and being under the attacks every single day. So, it’s nice to bring them some good news and some wins.”

Svitolina said she’s become used to the conditions on indoor clay after training on it for a few days inside Porsche Arena and playing for the Ukrainian team in the Billie Jean King Cup last week. “I’m very happy to be back after some years,” Svitolina said. “The field in Stuttgart is always so strong.”

This season, Svitolina has compiled an impressive 21-5 win-loss record in all competitions. Last week, she contributed a straight-set win over Katarzyna Kawa of Poland in Ukraine’s 4-0 shutout win over the Polish in the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers. Now, she comes to Stuttgart on the back of some excellent tour-level results, including her 19th career WTA title won in Auckland at the start of season and a semifinal run at the Australian Open. Plus, she was a finalist in Dubai and a semifinalist at Indian Wells.

“Definitely playing for my country, playing Olympics or the team competitions, Billie Jean King Cup, is always special for me,” Svitolina said. “I try to really be as prepared as possible, because I feel that’s where there are more support and more important moments for my country.

“I think the moment that stands out in my career is bringing the bronze medal from Tokyo, the first one in tennis for Ukraine. Yeah, just every time that I step on the court and seeing a flag, Ukrainian flag, next to me, adds up a little bit more pressure, but it also motivates me every single day to do my very best, because the people in Ukraine are having very difficult times on a daily basis, and I’m very lucky person to represent on such a big stage my country.”

The 31-year-old Svitolina became a mother in October 2022, when she and her husband, French tennis player Gaël Monfils, welcomed their daughter Skaï. She made her return to the WTA Tour in April 2023 following maternity leave and climbed back into the WTA Top 10 in February following her Australian Open run to the semifinals.

“It’s a really great feeling to come back to the Top 10,” Svitolina said. “It was a goal for me for this year and the last year, as well. Still, I try to not get, like, full satisfaction from that, because I want to go higher. I want to reach high ranking. And, of course, the Grand Slam has always been a goal for me.

“So, yeah, of course I draw a lot of confidence and good feeling from that achievement, but I want to go more and do better. Of course, you know, later, when I will finish with tennis, I will look back and appreciate, you know, this achievement.

“Of course, I think for mothers who are planning maybe to get a baby and then come back, I think it shows that it is possible. And there are, like, multiple players who have done that, and I’m just happy to be among those great players.”

Battle of talented lefties goes to Fernandez

No. 45 Alexandra Eala of the Philippines faced No. 25 Leylah Fernandez of Canada in a battle of young lefties in a featured early evening match on Centre Court in Porsche Arena. From first ball to last, the 23-year-old Montreal native dominated her 20-year-old opponent in her Stuttgart debut. By the end of the one-hour, 28-minute first-round tussle, Fernandez came out on top. She beat Eala, 6-1, 6-4, to advance to the second round on Thursday.

Fernandez played very emphatic tennis during the 36-minute opening set, breaking out to a 5-0 lead before Eala won a game. She hit 13 winners, converted two of three break-point chances and outpointed the 23-years-old Filipina 30-18.

Then, in the second set, Fernandez gained a double-break lead at 5-2. Although she was broken for the first time, which gave Eala a temporary reprieve, Fernandez served out the victory during her next service game for her fifth win of the season – and second against a Top-50 opponent. She triumphed on her third match-point opportunity after Eala hit a sixth-shot forehand wide.

“I knew [Alexandra] wasn’t going to go down easy; she’s going to fight,” Fernandez said during her on-court interview. “I trusted the training [with my coach]. I’m happy with the win.

“I thought it was definitely a high-performance match,” she added. “I would say a seven out of 10 [rating]. There’s always that little lapse of concentration. I’m just glad I stayed positive as much as possible, and of course the crowd helped me. So danke schoen!”

By the end, Fernandez outpointed Eala 63-46, finishing with 23 winners to 28 unforced errors, compared to nine winners and 28 unforced errors by Eala.

Fernandez will await Wednesday’s matchup between World No. 8 and fifth seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy and 79th-ranked qualifier Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey, which begins play on Centre Court at 12:30 p.m. (CEST).

Around Porsche Arena

• Main draw wild cards were awarded to three Germans – two of whom were in action Tuesday, Ella Seidel and Tamara Korpatsch – as well as to former World No. 2 Paula Badosa of Spain, who is making her fourth main draw appearance in Stuttgart. Each of them went down to defeat.

Badosa and 78th-ranked Eva Lys of Germany were featured on Centre Court Tuesday evening in a first-round encounter. By the end of their two-hour, 15-minute skirmish, it was Lys who won and advanced to the second round.

Lys rallied from a set and double-break 1-4 deficit to beat Badosa, her good friend and practice partner. She overcame seven double faults to hit 28 winners against 34 unforced errors and broke Badosa’s serve six times in 12 attempts. She outpointed her opponent 99-96 en route to collecting just her second win in six outings this season. Badosa, who finished with 12 winners and made 26 unforced errors, dropped to 6-10.

“Definitely very emotional, especially because it’s the first win after my injury. I didn’t expect it to be coming this fast,” Lys said during her post-match news conference. “Also, very emotional because it’s never easy to play friends. Yeah, it was a great fight from Paula. I mean, I have the biggest respect for her. She’s such an amazing and experienced player.

“So, yeah, it wasn’t easy, but at the end of the day, I’m just incredibly thankful, because the past months have been really, really tough, getting through the process, getting the knee healthy. It’s just a really good reward.”

Lys will be back on court Wednesday evening in a featured Centre Court match against World No. 7 and fourth seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.

Advancing to the second round were: 

• No. 7 seed Karolina Muchova of Czechia needed just 91 minutes to defeat 111th-ranked qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, 6-2, 6-4, to earn her 19th victory of the season in her second Stuttgart appearance. The World No. 12 Muchova, who closed out the win with back-to-back service aces, won 80 percent (28 of 35) of her first-serve points, hit 23 winners to nine unforced errors, and converted four of seven break points. She outpointed her opponent 63-47 to collect her second career win over Sasnovich.

• Next, Muchova will face World No. 20 Elise Mertens of Belgium, who eased past 87th-ranked German wild card Ella Seidel, 6-3, 6-4, in one hour and 31 minutes. Mertens, who put away the victory on her third match-point opportunity with a fifth-shot forehand winner, won 60 percent (12 of 20) of her second-serve points and converted four of 11 break-point chances. She outpointed Seidel 68-54 to earn her 12th victory of the season.

• No. 8 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova advanced over 201st-ranked qualifier Gabriela Knutson of Czechia, 6-2, 6-2, in 63 minutes. Alexandrova saved both break points she faced, converted four of six break points and outpointed Knutson 63-42. Next, Alexandrova will play the winner of Wednesday’s matchup between No. 66 Zhang Shuai of China and World No. 14 Linda Noskova of Czechia.

• World No. 19 Diana Shnaider of Russia advanced with a 6-3, 6-1 win over 102nd-ranked German wild card Tamara Korpatsch in 90 minutes. Shnaider converted six of 11 break points against Korpatsch and outpointed her 65-45. Next, Shnaider will face World No. 2 and top seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan on Thursday.

• In doubles, No. 1 seeds Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and Zhang Shuai of China advanced to the quarterfinal round with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Elixane Lechemia of France and Lara Salden of Belgium in 72 minutes. Next, they will face Laura Siegemund of Germany and Vera Zvonareva of Russia, who defeated Spanish pair Aliona Bolsova and Yvonne Cavalle-Reimers, 6-3, 6-1, in 68 minutes.

No. 4 seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Liudmila Samsonova of Russia also advanced.

Tuesday’s Stuttgart results

Wednesday’s Stuttgart order of play

By the numbers

Defending champion Jelena Ostapenko beat both No.2 Iga Swiatek and No.1 Aryna Sabalenka en route to last year’s title. It was Ostapenko’s first clay-court title since her very first Tour-level title, the 2017 French Open in Paris, which she won two days after her 20th birthday.

“Quotable …”

“I love tournament music. I feel like especially for myself, it helps me just loosen the mood, because I feel like the biggest enemy is Eva when I’m just too nervous and too tight.

“Whenever I’m hearing a song or just fun music in between, makes me loosen up a little bit. I’m thinking of the tournaments where I remember having a tournament DJ. I do know that Hamburg was playing some good music, and I could, like, maybe tell them one or two songs I really like, so it’s fun to hear your own playlist.

“But overall, I’m definitely a big fan of that.”

– Eva Lys of Germany, during her pre-tournament news conference, describing what makes good DJ/tournament music.

 

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