Tennis stars Elina Svitolina and Gaël Monfils are getting divorced after five years of marriage.
“This is the most difficult thing I have ever had to share,” Svitolina, 32, wrote via Instagram on Monday, October 19, explaining that her home country Ukraine’s ongoing war with Russia was at the center of the decision.
“Everyone knows how much Ukraine means to me,” she said. “What I have rarely spoken about is what the war has done to me inside. Last year, I told you I needed to step away from the court because I wasn’t in the right emotional space. Today, I want to open up a little more. What you didn’t see were the sleepless nights, the doubts, and the feeling of slowly losing myself.”
Svitolina continued, “Gaël saw all of it. He never let go of my hand. We fought through this together for a long time, with everything we had. But some battles happen deep inside you, and no amount of love from someone else can win them for you. 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. It is the hardest truth I have ever had to face and the hardest thing I have ever had to tell the person I love. Gaël listened. He has respected what I need with a strength and grace I will never forget.”
Monfils, 40, and Svitolina got married in July 2021 and share daughter Skai, 4.
“Gaël has loved me through my greatest joys and my darkest moments, and I have loved him with all my heart,” Svitolina added in her post. “Together, we built a beautiful life, and we were given the most precious gift of all, our daughter, Skai. Skai will always come first. Our marriage is ending, but our family is not. We will always be her parents, side by side, at every step of her life.”
She concluded, “Please know that there is no one to blame here. There are only two people who loved each other deeply and a story that is changing shape. We ask for your kindness and for the space we need to heal. Thank you for your love 🤍.”
The divorce came as a surprise to many in the tennis community after Monfils recently gushed about his wife following his final match at the French Open.
“We’ve been together for eight beautiful years,” Monfils said during an emotional on-court interview in May. “I’m not talking about Elina Svitolina the player, I’m talking about the woman, the real woman, my wife. She’s always known how to support me as a man.”
Monfils was scheduled to play the final professional tournament of his tennis career at the Paris Masters, which starts on October 31, but he quietly put himself on the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s Retired Players List earlier this month without explanation.
He is not eligible to compete in future tournaments unless he reenters the testing pool for anti-doping regulations.
As it stands now, his final match was during the 2026 US Open, a second round loss to Learner Tien on September 3.
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