2018 WTA Preview: No. 6, Elina Svitolina

As a preview of 2018, Baseline is taking a look at all the Top 10 finishers from the ATP and WTA.

See No. 7 here.

6

Elina Svitolina emerged as the most consistent competitor on the WTA tour in 2017 thanks to five titles. She picked up hardware in Taipei City, Dubai, Istanbul, Rome and Toronto, and rose to a career-high ranking of No. 3 in September.

Moment of the Year

Though Svitolina won multiple Premier 5's this season, her strongest performances came in Toronto. The 23-year-old slammed aside Venus Williams, Garbine Muguruza, Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki along the way.

Hot Shot of the Year

Svitolina has shown she can beat the biggest names in the sport thanks to her ability to strike winners from anywhere on the court. She bides her time, waits for her moment and takes advantage of any opportunity, like she did with this forehand in Toronto:

Outlook for 2018

The only thing missing from Svitolina's growing resume is Grand Slam success. She matched her best run with a quarterfinal appearance at the French Open, but will want more in 2018. Her seeding and confidence will be high, and she's proven she can topple anyone in the Top 10. Now she just needs to do it on the biggest stages.