Svitolina looks to make a splash in Singapore

Elina Svitolina is one of the rising stars in the WTA, and she made the most of her first week in Singapore that leads into the year-end finals. The world No. 4 flashed her bright smile, and tennis fans got a closer look at her outside of tennis.

Of note, Svitolina wore a long, shiny dress that her mom designed. She’s often enjoyed different styles for different occasions.

The 23-year-old Ukrainian enjoys animals, and she found time to visit the Singapore Zoo, and she took an interest in the orangutans.

"It was very, very cool to meet them, and it was an amazing experience,"said Svitolina in ESPNW. "It was nice to talk to the [zoo] keepers and hear about what they do and how they take care of them. I didn't really think about what they do for all these very rare animals. I'm now more aware of what is happening, and I would be very interested to be a part of doing some work for these kind of rare animals."

Svitolina has won five titles in 2017, including Premier 5 titles at Dubai, Rome and Toronto, to post an impressive 52-12 record. She’s been in the thick of the year-end chase for No. 1 and can claim this honor if she wins the WTA finals.

Up first, Svitolina will be contesting Caroline Wozniacki in the Red Group for her opening round-robin match, and then play Simona Halep and Caroline Garcia to determine two semifinal spots.