ELINA SVITOLINA ANNOUNCES END OF MARRIAGE TO GAËL MONFILS

Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina has announced that her marriage to fellow player Gaël Monfils is ending after five years. She shared the decision in an Instagram statement on Monday, 19 October. Svitolina said the war in Ukraine had affected her more deeply than she had previously acknowledged. She said she had come to understand that she could not find her way back to herself within their marriage.

Svitolina said she had told followers last year that she needed to step away from tennis because she was not in the right emotional space. “What you didn’t see were the sleepless nights, the doubts, and the feeling of slowly losing myself,” she wrote. She said Monfils had seen her difficulties and supported her while they tried to work through them. “We fought through this together for a long time, with everything we had,” she wrote. Svitolina added that she had reached a decision about what she needed for herself.

Svitolina said Monfils listened when she explained her decision and respected what she needed. She described the years they spent together as meaningful and referred to the family they had built. “Gaël has loved me through my greatest joys and my darkest moments, and I have loved him with all my heart,” she wrote. She said she would remember the strength and grace with which he received her decision.