Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils End 5-Year Marriage, Citing War's Emotional Toll
- Tennis couple Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils announced their separation after five years of marriage in a joint Instagram post
- Svitolina attributed the split to the profound psychological impact Russia's war in Ukraine has had on her
- The Ukrainian star revealed she had been battling deep personal struggles that she says no external love could resolve
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Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina and French player Gael Monfils have confirmed the end of their five-year marriage, sharing the news in a joint statement posted to Instagram on Monday, 19 October 2026.
Source: Getty Images
Svitolina authored the caption of the post, describing the announcement as "the most difficult thing I have ever had to share." She linked the breakdown of the marriage directly to the psychological toll Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine has taken on her.
The war's hidden cost on Svitolina
In her statement, Svitolina detailed a side of her mental health battle that had largely remained private.
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"What I have rarely spoken about is what the war has done to me inside," she wrote, adding that last year's withdrawal from professional tennis was connected to emotional struggles she had not fully disclosed at the time.
She described sleepless nights, persistent self-doubt, and a gradual sense of losing her identity, noting that Monfils had witnessed all of it and remained by her side throughout.
"He never let go of my hand. We fought through this together for a long time, with everything we had," she wrote.
Despite that support, Svitolina said some internal battles cannot be resolved by another person's love alone.
"But some battles happen deep inside you, and no amount of love from someone else can win them for you," she wrote, explaining that she had come to understand she needed to rediscover herself outside of the marriage.
Read the full statement in the post below on X.
A prominent couple in professional tennis
Svitolina and Monfils were widely regarded as one of the sport's most prominent couples. The pair had only recently appeared together on court, competing as a mixed doubles partnership in the semifinal of the US Open on 26 August 2026, where they faced Switzerland's Belinda Bencic and Italy's Flavio Cobolli at Flushing Meadows in New York.
The announcement marks the end of one of the more publicly celebrated relationships in professional tennis.
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Briefly News previously reported that Hisense South Africa announced a new free sports channel launching on its VIDAA operating system from 8 October 2026
SportsCast Africa will broadcast international football, motorsport, basketball, rugby, and tennis with no subscription required
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Source: Briefly News
