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Elina Svitolina has withdrawn from next week’s WTA 500 event in Tokyo. The world No. 6 also skipped another WTA 500 event taking place in Ningbo this week, having already secured her place at the WTA Finals. This is the first time that Svitolina has qualified for the season-ending championships since 2019, when she finished runner-up. She lifted the trophy at the prestigious event in 2018. News of Svitolina’s withdrawal from the Pan Pacific Open comes just days after she confirmed that she and Gael Monfils were ending their marriage.
Svitolina and former ATP No. 6 Monfils have been married for five years and have a four-year-old daughter together. They announced their split in an Instagram post earlier this week, which was shared on both of their Instagram accounts but written from Svitolina’s perspective.
The 32-year-old cited the toll of the war in Ukraine as part of the reason 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.
The news also came after Monfils suddenly ended his tennis career. The Frenchman was due to play two more tournaments, the Lyon Open and the Paris Masters. But he notified the International Tennis Integrity Agency of his retirement on October 5.
In a separate, solo statement released this week, Svitolina said: “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.”
Now, the world No. 6 has herself withdrawn from the upcoming WTA 500 event in Tokyo. However, this was to be expected after she confirmed her WTA Finals qualification. Svitolina would likely have competed in both Ningbo and Tokyo if she still needed to chase ranking points to secure her place in the year-end championships.
The eight players who have earned the most ranking points in a single season qualify for the WTA Finals, or a Grand Slam champion who finishes top-20 in the race gets the eighth spot, meaning the top seven with the most ranking points qualify instead. That was the case this year with Wimbledon winner Linda Noskova.
Svitolina became the seventh woman to qualify for the WTA Finals this year after a strong season, highlighted by a WTA 1000 title win in Rome and a runner-up finish in Dubai. She also won the WTA 250 title in Auckland back in January. The Ukrainian is currently sitting at her highest ranking since 2021.
Marta Kostyuk has also withdrawn from the Pan Pacific Open. The world No. 10 had an outside chance of qualifying from the WTA Finals but retired from her opening match in Ningbo earlier this week, meaning she could not make it to the year-end finale. Karolina Muchova got the final spot.
Iga Swiatek pulled out after bringing her 2026 season to an early end. The Pole was in tears as she played through a quad injury and lost in last week’s Wuhan Open semi-finals. She also pulled out of the Ningbo Open and later confirmed: “I’ve decided to end my season here, which means I won’t be playing any more tournaments this year.”
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