Elina Svitolina announces end of marriage to Gaël Monfils

Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina announced Monday that her marriage to French player Gaël Monfils is ending, saying the emotional toll of Russia’s war in Ukraine left her needing to find her way back to herself.

“This is the most difficult thing I have ever had to share,” Svitolina, 32, wrote in a statement posted to Instagram, Sky Sports reported. “With time, I came to understand that I need to find my way back to myself and that I cannot do that within our marriage.”

Svitolina, ranked No. 6 in the world, described sleepless nights and self-doubt tied to the war in her home country, according to Sky Sports and Reuters. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

She said neither of them was to blame. “There is no one to blame here,” she wrote, according to Sky Sports. She praised Monfils for his support. “Gael listened. He has respected what I need with a strength and grace I will never forget.”

The couple married in 2021 and have a four-year-old daughter, Skai. “Skai will always come first,” Svitolina wrote. “Our marriage is ending, but our family is not.”

The announcement came shortly after Monfils, 40, a former world No. 6 known as one of the sport’s great entertainers, was placed on the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s list of retired players this month, Agence France-Presse reported. Monfils had not personally confirmed his retirement, according to Field Level Media. His last official match was a second-round loss to Learner Tien at the U.S. Open in September, AFP reported.

The two played together this season, reaching the semifinals of the U.S. Open mixed doubles before losing to Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli, according to Sky Sports. On their way, they beat Canada’s Félix Auger-Aliassime and the Philippines’ Alexandra Eala, The Canadian Press reported.

Svitolina, a four-time Grand Slam semifinalist, has been one of the most prominent voices in tennis on the war in Ukraine and has raised money for relief efforts through her foundation. She most recently lost in the quarterfinals of the Wuhan Open to Britain’s Sonay Kartal, Sky Sports reported.

She is also a familiar figure to Canadian fans from the National Bank Open, where she has played in both Toronto and Montreal. Canadian Leylah Fernandez, another WTA regular, recently won her sixth WTA title in Singapore.

The news drew thousands of Google searches in Canada over the past day, with Monfils’s name among the top related searches, according to Google Trends.

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Sources: Sky Sports; Reuters; Agence France-Presse via The Star; Field Level Media; The Canadian Press.