Who are Elina Svitolina’s family? Parents Mikhaylo and Olena, and grandmother Tamara her ‘most dedicated supporter’

Elina Svitolina took up tennis to get her parents Mikhaylo and Olena’s attention and it turned out to be a masterstroke as she not made them sit up and take note, but also the tennis world.

The Ukrainian has become a household name in tennis as she has won 19 WTA Tour singles titles, lifted the prestigious WTA Finals trophy, peaked at No 3 in the WTA Rankings and won a bronze medal for Ukraine at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

But Svitolina nearly didn’t take up tennis as she was initially more interested in gymnastics, while her brother Yulian – who is nine years older than her – looked set for tennis stardom as he was an outstanding youth player.

Yulian’s talent meant Mikhaylo and Olena focused a lot on him, and Elina admitted in a 2023 interview with the Daily Mail that she started playing the sport as she wanted more attention from her parents.

“Yulian is nine years older than me, he played [tennis] well, and all the attention of my parents was on him,” she revealed.

“Therefore, I wanted to do something so that my parents would pay attention to me. It has always been very motivating. Yulian had a back injury, he had no choice – he needed to recover. Then my parents turned [their attention] a little more on me.

“I always wanted to be famous, I wanted to do something to make my parents proud of me. And my parents always motivate me, even now.”

And their motivation remains key as Svitolina continues to dominate at the highest level with her career going from strength to strength after she returned to tennis following the birth of her and fellow tennis star Gael Monfils’ first child, a daughter named Skai, in 2022.

Who are Elina Svitolina’s parents Mikhaylo Svitolin and Olena Svitolina?

Elina was born to Mikhaylo Svitolin and Olena Svitolina on September 12, 1994, in Odesa with the proud Ukrainian parents naming their daughter after Soviet actress Elina Bystritskaya.

She was their second child with son Yulian born on September 29, 1985.

Both Mikhaylo and Olena had sporting backgrounds as the former was a wrestler while her mother was a former rower in Ukraine, although by the time Elina started focusing on tennis Olena “was into professional bowling”.

Father Mikhaylo had forged a career as an estate agent.

Mikhaylo and Olena encouraged both their children to play sport and Yulian looked set to compete at the highest level and his parents spent a lot of time travelling with him to local tournaments, leaving Elina to spend time with grandmother Tamara.

Tennis Features

Who are Iva Jovic’s family? Parents Bojan & Jelena Jovic and sister Mia Jovic

Serena Williams comeback? Rumours swirl over the return of the all-time great of women’s tennis

After a businessman spotted her talent, the family decided to move to Kharkiv in order for Elina to get the best coaching, but her parents couldn’t join her initially and she spent a lot of time alone, forcing her to grow up quickly.

“I am grateful for that time because I became more independent. At the weekends I was walking around Kharkiv by myself to learn what to show my mum when she visits,” Elina revealed.

Her parents eventually joined her in Kharkiv and her career soon started to take off.

Who is Yulian Svitolin?

After suffering a serious injury, Yulian turned to coaching and in 2003 he started mentoring his young sister, Elina, working with her for five years.

Before becoming a coach, Yulian was ranked No 5 in Ukraine and played junior tournaments against the likes Rafael Nadal, Richard Gasquet, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Marcos Baghdatis, Dudi Sela, Gael Monfils and Sergei Stakhovsky.

He was ranked inside the top 100 on the ITF Junior Rankings for under-18 players and obtained a scholarship at the Juan Carlos Fererro Tennis Academy in Valencia.

But as Elina’s coach, he set the wheels in motion for her to win the 2010 French Open Girls’ title, beating future world No 2 Ons Jabeur in the final while two years later she finished runner-up to Eugenie Bouchard in the girls’ tournament at Wimbledon.

Who is Elina’s grandmother Tamara?

Tamara had a big impact on Elina’s career as she spent a lot of time with her grandmother during her younger days, telling the Daily Mail: “My parents travelled a lot with my elder brother when I was little, I stayed with my grandma.

“My grandma is Jewish, so everything is [centred] around the family, and how to make it comfortable for the family.”

Svitolina added: “She is my most dedicated supporter since my very childhood. While my parents were traveling with my brother, I played at some contests for children under ten, under 7, I remember my grandma was watching me.”

And she hasn’t forgotten her roots as she returns to Ukraine to visit her grandmother every year despite the Russian invasion.