Meet the England cricketer who is married to a Ukraine Tennis player

There was a lot of buzz when Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza got married to Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik almost eight years ago. The duo will soon celebrate their eighth marriage anniversary and have managed their professional and personal life perfectly. However, cricket and tennis once again came together when England fast bowler Reece Topley got hitched to the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina. The couple is all set to celebrate their second anniversary in 2018.

While Topley has represented England in 10 ODIs and 6 T20Is, his career has been troubled by the frequent injuries. He is currently recovering from a series of spinal stress fractures and is away from the field. He is only 23, and the cricketer can make a comeback anytime in the international arena. On the other hand, Svitolina is a famous Tennis player in Ukraine and became the first woman in the country to break into the top 10 rankings last year.

Svitolina recalls the time when they first met

Svitolina, in an interview with The Telegraph, recalled the time when she first saw Reece Topley while training at the gym in 2016 during her visit to England.

“I spotted him straight away,” she has explained. “It wasn’t difficult – he is two metres tall and very strong. I was very focused on my training and then I saw him in the restaurant afterwards.” The Tennis player also explained that she had mistaken the cricketer as a professional curling player at first.

However, once that misunderstanding was cleared, she attended around six of Topley’s matches when he played for Hampshire. She also added that her husband gets recognised more than her in Ukraine as cricket is more popular than tennis.

“Reece gets recognised in the street more than me. Cricket is more popular here,” Svitolina happily said. Though the couple doesn’t live together with Reece training in Hampshire, they will soon complete two years of their marriage.