“Proud To Be Svitolina”: Elina Svitolina Clarifies Her Intent After Name Changed to Elina Monfils

Elina Svitolina fought for her first-round victory at the Tokyo Olympics today, as she beat Laura Siegemund of Germany. She beat Laura 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in the first round as she started her Olympic campaign on a positive note.?However, Svitolina’s eyes went in the other direction after the match.

A few websites have displayed her name as ‘Elina Monfils’ on the live score display.?Elina has expressed her perspective on the situation and has admitted she wants to continue with Svitolina as her last name.

Elina Svitolina or Elina Monfils?

Elina Svitolina recently married Gael Monfils after being engaged for three months. The couple has been together for more than two years now; however, Elina has no plans of changing her professional name on the tennis circuit even though she has done so on the personal front.

“I don’t know why they changed my surname. Maybe they saw that I had changed it on my social networks. But I am going to play as Svitolina till the very end of my professional career and will change it only after retirement,” said Svitolina.

It is no surprise that an athlete would have a problem with such a thing.

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My father would be upset: Elina

Understandably, Elina is upset about the unprompted change in her last name and worries about her personal life at the moment.

“I had numerous achievements and people know me as Svitolina. My father would be upset if I changed the surname and played as Monfils. I am proud to be Svitolina and my tennis career will always be connected with this surname,” said Svitolina.

Svitolina will continue her Tokyo campaign after her win unlike her spouse Gael Monfils, who lost to Ilya Ivashka in the first-round itself as the upsets kept on going at the Olympics.

It is now Elina’s personal and patriotic motive to achieve a great finish in Tokyo. She will be ready for the upcoming challenges on her way towards glory. Elina faces Ajla Tomljanovic, who finished as a quarterfinalist at the Wimbledon Championships.

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