Elina Svitolina's comeback story continues as 'tired' dad Gael Monfils takes care of baby Skai

Elina Svitolina joked earlier during her Wimbledon run that Gael Monfils wanted her to come home so that she can be reunited with daughter Skai, but the new mom is having the time of her life in England.

Elina Svitolina Wimbledon

Elina Svitolina joked earlier during her Wimbledon run that Gael Monfils wanted her to come home so that she can be reunited with daughter Skai, but the new mom is having the time of her life in England.

Former world No 3 Svitolina has produced one of the stories at Wimbledon 2023 as she has reached the quarter-final of the grass-court Grand Slam – barely nine months after she gave birth to her and fellow tennis player Monfils’ first child.

Skai was born October 15 and just over five months later Svitolina was back on the professional tour as she competed at the Charleston Open. Just over a month later she won her first title as a mother at the Internationaux de Strasbourg as a wildcard entry.

Then she went on a magical journey at Roland Garros, reaching the last eight before losing against Aryna Sabalenka, and now she has gone and done it again at Wimbledon.

Meanwhile, Monfils is playing the role of a full-time dad – although he does have help – while Svitolina is making headlines at SW19.

“He wants me to come back because he’s really tired (smiling),” she joked after she beat Sofia 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 moms, as well. There is a big team taking care of Skai right now.”

Did we mention that she not only reached the last eight at Wimbledon, but has also received an invite from Harry Styles to one of his final four concerts of 2023?

Svitolina, who reached the semi-final at Wimbledon in 2019, will face world No 1 Iga Swiatek in the quarter-final and she is projected to rise back to No 39 in the WTA Rankings following her recent impressive displays.

Not a bad fortnight for the 28-year-old.

But did she really expect to be playing this well so early in her comeback?

“I wanted to come back a bit later. I had some other goals, my personal goals,” she revealed.

“But then when I start training, a lot of people, like, for example, some coaches from Gael’s team, my coaches, and some coaches at the club who saw me playing, they were like, You’re playing unbelievable, you should come back, you should do it earlier.

“Then this motivated me, and this gave me this energy, even more, to train even harder and to push myself harder, and my body gave me a chance to and handled it well.

“Yeah, that’s why I think everything clicked together a bit earlier for me, and I was ready to play. Physically I was ready to play in Charleston.”

READ MORE: Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils share baby Skai’s first TikTok and cute parenting pictures

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