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Elina Svitolina has released another statement addressing her split from Gael Monfils and sharing her reasons for ending their relationship. On Monday, the couple released a joint statement, written from Svitolina’s perspective, announcing that they would be separating after five years of marriage, and eight years together. The announcement came days after it emerged that Monfils had suddenly ended his tennis career. The former world No. 6 was due to play two more tournaments in his farewell season – this week’s Lyon Open and the upcoming Paris Masters. But he notified the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) of his retirement on October 5, bringing his career to an abrupt end.
At the time, the Lyon Open said Monfils’ withdrawal was due to “personal reasons”. He also pulled out of a pre-tournament exhibition event involving other retired French players. The 40-year-old did not address his retirement himself, but Svitolina confirmed the end of their marriage on Monday in a shared Instagram post.
The WTA No. 6 has now released a second statement to “clarify” the previous message. Svitolina’s latest post also addresses Monfils’ sudden retirement, admitting he decided to end his career based on their personal situation.
Svitolina wrote: “I just want to clarify my previous post a little, because I realised that not everyone, especially my international audience, fully understood what I was trying to say. In that post, I shared only one of the reasons that influenced my decision and made me reflect on my life and my future. But the truth is, there’s so much more to it, and it was never just about one thing.
many different situations, emotions, and difficult moments, you naturally start seeing life differently. Your perspective changes, your values and priorities shift, and you begin to understand what you truly want out of life.
“At some point, I simply realised that I didn’t want to keep living a life where I wasn’t truly happy. And believe me, coming to this decision was anything but easy.
“I love and respect my husband very much. And I will always love and appreciate him for the person he is. That’s exactly why it was so important for me to be honest, both with him and with myself.”
The Ukrainian star also confirmed that they released Monday’s statement to shut down any speculation over Monfils’ sudden retirement. Although it was shared across both of their Instagram accounts as a joint message, Svitolina said it was her account of their split.
She continued: “It’s not always possible to explain everything behind such personal and difficult decisions in a single post. And honestly, some things are simply too personal to share publicly. That was and is my view on announcing the end of our marriage but as some of you saw, Gael’s career ended abruptly after he made the decision to stop based on our situation. Unfortunately he had many accusations thrown at him and he didn’t deserve that, so we jointly released a statement.
“I just hope this helps you understand a little better what I was trying to say but please be kind and understanding, this is incredibly tough for us both right now.”
Svitolina’s new statement confirms reports from L’Equipe that their split came as something of a shock to Monfils, causing him to end his career early. The French outlet said: “When Monfils learned the news, it hit him like a ton of bricks, and tennis, which he had often experienced as a kind of gentle madness, suddenly lost all meaning. He was no longer able to play.”
It means that Monfils’ final tournament was the US Open, where he won his opening match on his 40th birthday before losing to Learner Tien in the second round. Monfils and Svitolina, who share a four-year-old daughter, Skai, also teamed up to reach the semi-finals in mixed doubles.
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