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Elina Svitolina reveals Gael Monfils divorce decision in deeply emotional post

Tennis star Elina Svitolina announced on Monday that she and fellow tennis professional Gael Monfils are divorcing. The 32-year-old athlete confirmed the conclusion of their marriage through a lengthy and emotional message published across her and Monfils' Instagram accounts.

In her public disclosure, Svitolina detailed the personal toll that events in her homeland have taken on her mental state. "Everyone knows how much Ukraine means to me," she wrote. "What I have rarely spoken about is what the war has done to me inside."

Svitolina connected these inner struggles to an earlier hiatus from professional tennis competition. "Last year, I told you I needed to step away from the court because I wasn't in the right emotional space," Svitolina stated. "Today, I want to open up a little more."

Describing the behind-the-scenes reality of her emotional condition, Svitolina continued: "What you didn't see were the sleepless nights, the doubts, and the feeling of slowly losing myself. 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 described communicating the decision to Monfils as an extremely difficult moment. "It is the hardest truth I have ever had to face and the hardest thing I have ever had to tell the person I love," she wrote, adding, "Gaël listened. He has respected what I need with a strength and grace I will never forget."

The two tennis players married in 2021. Svitolina and Monfils have a four-year-old daughter together.

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‘What the war has done to me inside’: Ukraine’s Svitolina announces separation from Monfils