Gaël Monfils says Elina Svitolina divorce meant he ‘couldn’t see himself playing’ tennis
posted by u/TheAthletic · 2026-10-27 09:54 UTC
Gaël Monfils has said that his divorce from fellow tennis star Elina Svitolina meant he could not see himself playing tennis, leading the 40-year-old to end his career earlier than planned.
In a live stream Monday conducted in French on his Twitch channel, Monfils said that the end of their five-year marriage, which Svitolina, 32, announced in a joint social media post last week, meant that “everything I do is not as good as it used to be.”
“It’s already very hard to step out at the end of your career, with emotions you’ve never experienced before, when you’re also going through a difficult time. … I just couldn’t see myself playing,” he said.
## Top comments
1. u/Ok-Length-5527 · 2026-10-27 10:00 UTC
He has a broken heart. I hope things will get easier for him.
2. u/DarkDiablo1601 · 2026-10-27 16:15 UTC
this girl really made his retirement all about her lol
3. u/redelectro7 · 2026-10-27 10:00 UTC
This is really sad to read. Hopefully he has a good support system.
4. u/semfis · 2026-10-27 12:30 UTC
This!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5. u/aaronupright · 2026-10-27 14:34 UTC
Why downvotes?
6. u/princess_piglet22 · 2026-10-27 14:52 UTC
people are miserable for some reason and like to feel powerful downvoting 😂
7. u/semfis · 2026-10-27 15:15 UTC
People downvoting do not seem to understand the emphasis. My emphasis is on having support system, which I hope he has. To those downvoting 😀
8. u/princess_piglet22 · 2026-10-27 16:25 UTC
ignore them they're all miserable power hungry losers
9. u/RevolutionaryGuru613 · 2026-10-27 10:03 UTC
Ahhh man Gael seems like such a gentle fella. It will obviously get better for him, but dude is hurt bad
10. u/MiserableMeal2501 · 2026-10-27 10:00 UTC
Oh he was blindsided by this decision...
11. u/CRoseCrizzle · 2026-10-27 16:03 UTC
They were playing doubles at the US Open together less than 2 months ago.
12. u/tripsafe · 2026-10-27 11:12 UTC
Did he say he was blindsided? It could have been a while coming and still lead to him losing the desire to continue playing
Edit: so weird to downvote my comment. Just say where he said he was blindsided if I’m wrong
13. u/isabellasghost3 · 2026-10-27 11:41 UTC
Different take - Elina doing the emotional and public facing work of this announcement, and he’s letting her, because he always has…. Gael was babbling about wanting to do finance work, for a few months now…. And he clearly (my opinion) hated the sappy attention of the tribute ‘last time’ cloying reactions to his last few high profile matches. And he’s physically and mentally tired. Fair. But therefore it’s all very convenient, he can bow out, blame his ex. It takes two to end a marriage, he checked out awhile ago. The public sympathy for him and attack on her is just mind numbing plain old misogynistic reaction….IMO.
14. u/Vegetable-Pop-9545 · 2026-10-27 11:50 UTC
get a life lol
15. u/NectarOfTheBussy · 2026-10-27 11:52 UTC
touch grass holy shit lol
16. u/DantesLobster · 2026-10-27 12:58 UTC
How does one end up writing shit like this? How much accumalation of absolute nonsense does one have to gorge upon to be able to create such utter dogshit?
17. u/CrackHeadRodeo · 2026-10-27 15:14 UTC
How does one end up writing shit like this? How much accumalation of absolute nonsense does one have to gorge upon to be able to create such utter dogshit?
Some people hoard trash in their homes. Other hoard nonsense in the minds.
18. u/Fantastic-Tiger7815 · 2026-10-27 13:20 UTC
Lol well you don't sound biased at all.
"Babbling about wanting to do finance work". Yes , desiring a career after tennis is certainly "babbling".
"Blame his ex" ...man quite literally did nothing but get publicly broken up with and then quite literally defended Elina afterwards... something he didn't have to do at all.
You're strange lol
19. u/Kukuxumusu_ · 2026-10-27 15:38 UTC
Least parasocial r/tennis opinion
20. u/Consistent-Goal-2508 · 2026-10-27 10:02 UTC
Gael got warzoned