Elina Svitolina announces separation from Gaël Monfils on Instagram

Elina Svitolina, the world No 6 from Ukraine, announced on Instagram on 19 October 2026 that she has separated from her husband, former French world No 6 Gaël Monfils. She said the mental toll of Russia’s war had produced sleepless nights and self-doubt and that she needed to rediscover herself outside the marriage.

Svitolina, 32, is a four-time grand slam semi-finalist and married Monfils in 2021; the couple have a four-year-old daughter, Skai. In her post she described personal struggles linked to the conflict in her country and said those forces had affected her ability to remain in the marriage.

“This is the most difficult thing I have ever had to share,” she wrote. “Everyone knows how much Ukraine means to me. What I have rarely spoken about is what the war has done to me inside. 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,” Svitolina added in the Instagram message.

“Skai will always come first,” Svitolina wrote. “Our marriage is ending, but our family is not. 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.”

Monfils, 40, has seemingly brought forward his retirement from the sport; it had been expected to follow a farewell outing at the Paris Masters, which begins on 31 October. The announcement of Svitolina’s separation coincided with reports about the timing of Monfils’s exit from professional tennis.

It emerged last week that Monfils, who won 13 career titles, is now featured on the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s list of retired players.