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Gael Monfils suddenly ended his professional tennis career weeks earlier than planned when he notified the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) of his retirement on October 5 – before he was due to play two final tournaments on home soil at the Lyon Open and Paris Masters. Monfils has yet to publicly address his abrupt retirement, but his wife of five years, Elina Svitolina, has since confirmed that the pair are separating. In a joint statement shared from both of their Instagram accounts, but written from Svitolina’s perspective, the world No. 6 cited the toll of the Ukraine war as one of the reasons for their split.
“With time, I came to understand that I need to find my way back to myself and that I cannot do that within our marriage,” she wrote.
Svitolina then shared a follow-up, solo statement a day later, explaining that she needed to “clarify” some things about her reasons for ending their marriage.
Within that second message, the Ukrainian also confirmed that their split was behind Monfils’ early retirement – and that speculation surrounding the end of his career also made them go public about the end of their marriage.
“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,” she said.
According to L’Equipe, Svitolina’s decision to end their marriage “hit [Monfils] like a ton of bricks”. The French outlet added: “Tennis, which he had often experienced as a kind of gentle madness, suddenly lost all meaning. He was no longer able to play.”
Monfils, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 6 in 2016 and lifted 13 titles during his career, cannot U-turn on his decision to officially retire. He would have to spend six months in the ITIA’s anti-doping testing pool before he could return again, meaning there is no chance of the 40-year-old changing his mind and playing his farewell tournament in Paris next month as planned.
However, he has committed to an exhibition event and – for now – remains on the line-up. Monfils’ good friend and old rival, Stan Wawrinka, is also retiring this year. The three-time Major champion will bow out on home soil in Basel next week.
But the former world No. 3 also has plans for another farewell in Switzerland, as he will stage the ‘One Last Backhand’ exhibition in Geneva on December 19. Roger Federer, Andy Murray, and Monfils are all slated to play.
Speaking about the planned exhibition event while making his final Wimbledon appearance back in June, Wawrinka said: “I wanted to do something special in Switzerland to finish really on a nice note and [have a] big party on the court with some friends on the court, with Roger, with Andy, with Gael.
“I’m going to play some singles with Gael, and then some doubles, all four together. I think it was important for me to try to do something special in Switzerland.”
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