Elina Svitolina wept as she spoke after her commanding 6-1, 6-2 win over third seed Coco Gauff at the Australian Open women’s singles quarter-finals on Tuesday, tears spilling not from defeat but from the weight of everything the 31-year-old Ukrainian has endured and accomplished.

Motherhood, marriage, injuries, and the grind of the tour -- all threaded into the moment, making her return to the top feel profoundly personal. 

“I’m very pleased with the tournament so far, it has always been my dream to come back here after maternity leave,” she said during an emotionally charged post-match presentation. 

Her journey back has unfolded between nursery routines, rehab sessions, and match points, guided by the quiet resolve that only a life changed so deeply can bring.

The latest victory carried 12th seed Svitolina into her first Australian Open semi-final, and she is set to be back in the WTA top 10 for the first time since 2021, when the updated rankings are released next Monday.

“It was my dream to come back into the top 10,” she said. 

Svitolina’s Grand Slam story began in 2013, when she made her main-draw debut at the French Open. Progress followed steadily. By 2016, she was reaching the round of 16 at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. 

The breakthrough came in 2019, with semifinal runs at Wimbledon and the US Open that lifted her to world No.3 and placed her firmly among the elite.

Marriage to fellow tennis player Gael Monfils in 2021 and the birth of their daughter Skai in October 2022 brought a natural pause. 

When Svitolina returned to the tour in 2023, she did so without haste, yet the results arrived quickly: a Wimbledon semifinal and the Strasbourg title in her first season back.

Setbacks returned. A foot injury cut short her 2024 campaign, and at times she stepped away to address her mental health. Even when the rankings offered a quicker route back -- sitting 13th last September with no points to defend -- she chose rest and recovery over risk.

“Unfortunately it didn’t happen last year, I stopped after September and then when we were training and during off-season I told my coach, ‘I want to come back into top 10,’ so this was my goal for this year,” she said.

Melbourne has reflected that balance. A composed 6-2, 6-4 win over eighth seed Mirra Andreeva set the tone before the assured dismissal of American title contender Gauff, whose serve unravelled as Svitolina stayed patient and precise.

“It means the world to me,” she added. “I’ll try to push myself, try to give myself this motivation to continue. It’s been a good trip.”

The emotional weight of Melbourne hasn’t been lost on Svitolina. Just days earlier, she watched her husband Gael Monfils bow out of his 20th and final Australian Open match, a career of flamboyance and showmanship coming to a quiet, injury-marred close. She was there in his box, offering support as one chapter ended, even as her own was quietly accelerating.

Now, she faces world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, another intimidating test for the perennial underachiever. 

Svitolina, however, arrives with a different rhythm, tempered by experience and a life beyond the baseline.