Over the course of the last four weeks many players in both the WTA and ATP have voiced their displeasure over Wimbledon’s decision to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in the grass-court major in June and support for Wimbledon being stripped of its rankings points continues to grow, as both the ATP and WTA continue to hold private meetings to discuss the matter. While the nature of the meetings has been kept private, close sources believe that the general consensus is that Wimbledon will indeed be stripped of rankings points. There is one player though that hasn’t been as amused by this process and that’s Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina.
Svitolina, who is Ukraine’s most recognizable name in tennis, has been critical of the approach that the WTA and ATP have taken towards Russian and Belarusian athletes, describing it as “soft” and “sympathetic”. She has expressed multiple times her gratitude towards Wimbledon’s ban of Russian and Belarusian athletes, while at the same time expressing that she would be open to having athletes from those two countries competing if they vocally condemn the Russian invasion beyond just saying “no war”. While her comments make a lot of sense, they have not been well received and have been met with heavy criticism. In fact, the President of the Russian Tennis Federation Shamil Tarpischev recently described Svitolina as a “nobody”. First off, it’s rude to describe any player, or human being for that matter, as a nobody, even if they aren’t as successful. Every human life has value. Second, it’s not true. Elina Svitolina has been very successful in her career. Anyone who follows tennis closely knows that she is far from a “nobody”.
Elina Svitolina made her WTA debut in 2010. She won her first career singles title at the 2013 Baku Cup. She won her second singles title at the 2014 Baku Cup. Svitolina won three Premier 5 titles in 2017 and ascended to World Number 3. This set the record for highest ranked female player from Ukraine in nation history. She won the WTA Tour Finals singles title in 2018. Svitolina has a total of 16 WTA singles titles in her career so far, which includes her most recent title at the 2021 Chicago Open where she defeated French player Alize Cornet in the final. Svitolina has won 433 matches in her career so far. She has also accumulated more than $21 million in prize money.
Elina Svitolina has represented Ukraine at several big international competitions including the Fed Cup, Hopman Cup, and the Olympics. Her most notable achievement came at the Summer Olympics last year when she defeated Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina in the Bronze Medal Match. This would become Ukraine’s first tennis medal at the Olympic Games.
Elina Svitolina has been to the quarterfinals or better at all four majors, but has yet to win her maiden Grand Slam singles title. Svitolina has not played tennis since the end of March and has announced that she will not be participating in the French Open, which begins later this month.
When you look at everything Svitolina has accomplished in her career thus far, you can’t say with a straight face that she isn’t that good, which is why the “she’s a nobody” comment makes zero sense and is very hurtful. Instead of ridiculing the 27 year-old tennis player, we should give her a commendation for sticking up for her home country and not being afraid to voice her opinions.
