Elina Svitolina won her third Italian Open title this year, defeating Coco Gauff in the final.
The win helped Svitolina establish herself as a true French Open contender.
Is this the year Elina Svitolina finally wins a Grand Slam?
She's the 2026 Italian Open champion!
She beat three of the world’s top four in Rome: Gauff, Iga Swiatek, and Elena Rybakina, jumping up to seventh in the WTA rankings.
Reacting to Svitolina’s big win, Andy Roddick explained how the Ukrainian has done something similar to Roger Federer.
Andy Roddick says Elina Svitolina has ‘completely changed her game’ like Roger Federer
During the latest episode of ‘Served with Andy Roddick‘, the 2003 US Open champion delivered his verdict on Svitolina.
“What I remember from [Elina] Svitolina, let’s call it what her prime was before becoming a mother, was very solid, wasn’t going to beat herself, was there all the time, great returner, didn’t miss a lot, tactically sound,” said Roddick.
“But there was always someone, whether it be Serena [Williams], [Ash] Barty, [Iga] Swiatek, whoever it was, that was going to play bigger, badder, and kind of bully her potentially.
“I remember her losing to Leylah Fernandez in the quarters [of the US Open] the year that [Emma] Raducanu won. That was a really good opportunity.
“She has completely changed.
“I don’t know if she’s ever been more physically fit, the explosiveness, the power… She‘s stepping in, against Iga, she was avoiding long rallies like a plague, she was stepping in first ball, taking it to her, she has completely changed her game.
“The only comp, it’s a weird comp, with someone coming back, Roger [Federer] adjusted big time when he came back and won that Aussie Open after six months off.
“He was playing first strike tennis, and wasn’t playing that chip-D. Switched to that bigger racket, was taking full cuts on backhand returns, which felt more like an adjustment, as opposed to a complete overhaul.
“We had seen all of those things, but he just started implementing them way more often.
“I think she’s completely changed, she wasn’t on her back foot four times, against Iga, who, by the way, is a threat again, just so we’re clear.”
Roddick wonders whether Svitolina changed her approach when she came back, knowing that what she was doing before wasn’t going to win her a Grand Slam.
Elina Svitolina’s Grand Slam record
| Grand Slam | Best performance | Win/Loss record | Win % |
| Australian Open | SF – 2026 | 34-13 | 72% |
| French Open | QF – 2015, 2017, 2020, 2023, 2025 | 33-12 | 73% |
| Wimbledon | SF – 2019, 2023 | 22-11 | 67% |
| US Open | SF – 2019 | 24-12 | 67% |
“When you’re 23 or 24 and people are going, why aren’t you winning a major, you’re automatically in kind of a defensive position, you think you’re good enough with that game style,” he said.
“She comes back, and you’re seeing the [Aryna] Sabalenka’s, the [Elena] Rybakina’s, and the athleticism of Coco [Gauff], is she going f– it, I’ve got to start ripping!
“If that game wasn’t working when I had the wheels when I was 24, why on earth would it work now?”
Finally, Roddick commented on the recent dominance of Ukrainian women.
“What a win for Ukrainian tennis over the last month,” he said.
“They’ve dominated, it’s been like [Jannik] Sinner and Ukrainian women’s tennis for the last five weeks, what a story!”
Ukrainian women have won the last three WTA titles on clay.
- Open de Rouen – Marta Kostyuk
- Madrid Open – Marta Kostyuk
- Italian Open – Elina Svitolina
Marta Kostyuk and Elina Svitolina have been in fine form this clay-court season and could be worth keeping an eye on at Roland Garros.
How close has Elina Svitolina been to winning the French Open?
Svitolina has reached five French Open quarter-finals.
Unfortunately for the Ukrainian, she’s lost all five.
Elina Svitolina’s record in French Open semi-finals (0-5)
- 2015 French Open QF [LOSS] vs Ana Ivanovic, 3-6, 2-6
- 2017 French Open QF [LOSS] vs Simona Halep, 6-3, 6-7, 0-6
- 2020 French Open QF [LOSS] vs Nadia Podoroska, 2-6, 4-6
- 2023 French Open QF [LOSS] vs Aryna Sabalenka, 4-6, 4-6
- 2025 French Open QF [LOSS] vs Iga Swiatek, 1-6, 5-7
Svitolina came closest to the semis in 2017, when she took the opening set of her quarter-final match against Simona Halep.
She couldn’t close out the second set in a tiebreaker, though, and lost the decider 6-0 to the eventual champion.
Can she go all the way in 2026?
Only time will tell.
The 2026 French Open begins on Sunday, May 24.
