Jessica Pegula’s coach, Mark Knowles, expressed disappointment over Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina’s separation and the scrapping of Monfils’ planned farewell appearance at the Paris Masters. Monfils and Svitolina ended their five-year marriage this month, with both tennis stars issuing statements about the split. Svitolina faced online criticism for citing the Russia-Ukraine war as one of the reasons behind the separation, and later, Monfils came out with a statement of his own defending the Ukrainian.

The French ATP icon also cut his farewell season short due to the difficult situation in his personal life. The 40-year-old former World No. 6 was set to make an appearance at this year’s Paris Masters to bid farewell to the sport in front of his home fans but decided to end his playing career with his second-round loss to Learner Tien at this year’s US Open being his final competitive outing.

Knowles, the 55-year-old Bahamian former doubles specialist on the ATP Tour who coaches American WTA star Pegula these days, said on “The Inside-In Tennis Podcast“:

“Obviously super bummed out that our guy and everybody’s favorite, Gael Monfils, won’t get his send-off in Bercy (Paris). Really unfortunate what’s happening there, without knowing the situation.”

The former men’s doubles No. 1 went on to cite his admiration for Monfils, who is incredibly popular on the ATP Tour. Knowles added:

“I was fortunate enough to play on tour with Gael for a long time. I’ve been able to cover him doing broadcasting and seeing him every week. To me, he’s one of my favorite guys that I was ever around on tour, covering generation after generation, one of my all-time favorites.”

Pegula’s coach concluded:

“Really bummed for him, but always thinking about him and just thankful I got to be around him, watch him play – probably the greatest showman we’ve ever had in our sport.”

Elina Svitolina expected to make WTA Finals appearance despite Gael Monfils split

Svitolina, currently ranked World No. 6 in the WTA Tour’s singles rankings, most recently played in Wuhan, where she reached the quarterfinals before losing to eventual runner-up Sonay Kartal.

The Ukrainian WTA veteran has qualified for the year-end championships, and that’s where she is expected to compete next. It’s worth noting that Svitolina is a former WTA Finals champion, having won the prestigious year-end trophy in 2018 after registering a gritty comeback victory in the final against Sloane Stephens.

The Ukrainian came close to successfully defending her crown the next year but was denied in the final by former World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty.