Svitolina went public to defend Monfils from rumours about his integrity. Photo / Getty Images

Elina Svitolina has had to put up with a shower of online vitriol since she announced on Monday that she intends to divorce her fellow tennis player husband, Gaël Monfils.

Her Instagram post was met with countless replies, many of them hostile and misogynistic, complaining that she had ruined Monfils’