Elina Svitolina has spoken candidly about her happiness ahead of her appearance at the 2026 WTA Finals as she admitted she has had a “tough year” outside of tennis.

Last month, Svitolina announced she had decided to separate from her husband Gael Monfils, with the Ukrainian highlighting the impact of the war in her home country as a factor.

After Svitolina’s post sparked some harsh criticism on social media, the 32-year-old released a second statement to “clarify” her initial message.

Monfils spoke out to defend Svitolina and described the reaction that his ex-partner had received as “unkind at best, and venomous at worst.”

Svitolina and Monfils got married in the summer of 2021, having started dating in late 2018 before making their relationship public in 2019. In October 2022, they welcomed the birth of their daughter, Skai.

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Svitolina is set to play for the first time since the announcement of her split with Monfils at the WTA Finals in Indian Wells, where she will play world No 3 Mirra Andreeva in her opening match on Monday.

In her pre-tournament press conference at the WTA Finals, Svitolina was asked if focusing on tennis gives her some relief from the difficulties she has endured off the court.

“Yeah, as you mention, I’ve had a tough year with different things in my head,” said the 20-time WTA Tour titlist.

“Very busy year that we have. Living in the public eye is not an easy task. Everything is just up there for people to judge or to comment on. Also, I would say it’s a difficult thing to have.

“But we are people who are playing professionally, and it’s the part of life, of our life. I try just to focus on the things that I can control, and day by day try to find my happy moments.

“For me, there’s no such thing as, probably, a general happy life because of the things that I have on a daily basis.

“But the happy moments that I can create with the people around me — it’s things that I can control and live with.”