Elina Svitolina's Coaching Change Ahead of WTA Finals
Elina Svitolina will walk into the WTA Finals in Indian Wells without the coach who has been at her side for the defining chapters of her career. No Andrew Bettles in the box. No familiar voice in the tight moments.
Instead, a different kind of presence will be there: Sergiy Stakhovsky, the former Ukrainian No. 1, Wimbledon giant-killer, and a man Svitolina has known for years.
A Change in the Box, for the Best of Reasons
This is not a split, not a shock, not a quiet rupture behind the scenes. It is something far more straightforward, and far more human.
“Andy Bettles' wife is pregnant,” Svitolina explained in an interview with BTU. “Back at Roland Garros, he told me there was a chance she would give birth towards the end of the season, so there was a possibility he wouldn't be able to be here with me. And that's exactly what happened, as she's due to give birth this week.”
The plan, then, had to change months ago. Svitolina didn’t wait for a late scramble.
“So, back in the summer, I started thinking about who could step in. Sergiy [Stakhovsky] immediately came to mind because I've known him for a very long time. We train together a lot whenever I'm in Ukraine, and he's already been helping me anyway.
“For me, it was a very easy decision. It was also great that we had the opportunity to work together at the Billie Jean King Cup. He got to see how different players compete and became more involved in tennis again. So it was an easy choice for me, and I'm happy he agreed to help me this week.”
The choice is logical on paper. On an emotional level, it runs deeper. Stakhovsky is not just a former pro with four ATP titles and a famous win over Roger Federer on grass. He is a compatriot, a long-time hitting partner, someone who has already stepped back into the sport’s inner circle alongside Svitolina in team competition.
From Billie Jean King Cup to the Desert
Their most recent collaboration came under the tension of national colours. At the Billie Jean King Cup, Stakhovsky joined the Ukrainian setup as Svitolina led her country on a stirring run to the final. Ukraine fell 2-0 to Czechia there, with Svitolina losing in straight sets to Linda Noskova, but the week gave Stakhovsky a close-up view of elite women’s tennis again and a chance to reconnect with the rhythms of tour life.
Now the stakes are individual, but no less sharp. Indian Wells will stage the 2026 WTA Finals, and Svitolina arrives with unfinished business at this event and a record that quietly outshines everyone else in the field.
She owns the best winning percentage at the year-end championships among all this year’s participants: 77%.
A Tournament That Fits Her Game
Svitolina’s record at the WTA Finals reads 10–3. It did not start that way.
In 2017, she stumbled early, losing her first two group matches to Caroline Wozniacki and Caroline Garcia before salvaging a win over Simona Halep. It looked like a one-off appearance, a learning experience at the end of a long season.
The response a year later was ruthless.
In 2018, Svitolina swept all five of her matches to claim the biggest title of her career, running the table and lifting the trophy as champion. She very nearly backed it up. In 2019 she marched to the final again, only to be stopped by Ashleigh Barty.
Then came the long absence. Svitolina missed the 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 editions, a six-year gap that covers personal milestones, a return from maternity leave, and the backdrop of war in her homeland. Now, in 2026, she is back in the season’s elite eight.
The numbers underline how dangerous she can be when she gets there:
- Elina Svitolina – 77% win rate (2018 champion)
- Elena Rybakina – 64% (2025 champion)
- Aryna Sabalenka – 57% (2022, 2025 finalist)
- Coco Gauff – 47% (2024 champion)
- Jessica Pegula – 43% (2023 finalist)
Mirra Andreeva, Karolina Muchova, and Linda Noskova are all making their debuts.
Experience matters at this event. So does resilience. Svitolina has shown both in abundance.
A New Voice for a Familiar Stage
Stakhovsky’s role in Indian Wells will not be to reinvent her. He steps into a structure Bettles helped build, into patterns of play and preparation that have already delivered a WTA Finals crown.
What he can add is a different eye and a certain steel. This is a player who once walked onto Centre Court and knocked Federer out of Wimbledon. He understands the psychology of upsetting favourites, of navigating tight sets on big stages. With Svitolina facing a field stacked with major champions and rising stars, that insight will matter.
Her first assignment is a telling one: Mirra Andreeva, the Russian teenager making her debut at the event, on Monday, November 9. Youth against experience. A new face against a returning champion.
Svitolina has not been at this tournament since 2019, but her record here still sets the standard. Now she arrives older, battle-tested, with a different coach in her corner and a familiar goal in front of her.
The question in Indian Wells is simple: can the player with the best history at this event write one more chapter with a new voice guiding her from the stands?
