Elina Svitolina has withdrawn from a second WTA 500 event in the space of a few weeks with her decision not to play at next week’s Pan Pacific Open coming on the back of her shock split from husband Gael Monfils.
The world No 6, who was last in action at the Wuhan Open on Friday, was originally on the entry list of this week’s Ningbo Open, but she had announced earlier this month that she would not compete at the WTA 500 event in China.
Three days after her defeat to Sonay Kartal the quarter-final at the WTA 1000 Wuhan tournament, Svitolina dropped a bolt from the blue as she announced that her marriage with Monfils is ending as she revealed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has taken its toll.
“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.
Both Svitolina and Monfils have kept a low profile since the announcement with neither appearing in public, but the Ukrainian was due to return to action at the Pan Pacific Open with the WTA 500 event running from 26 October to 1 November.
Elina Svitolina News
However, her name has now been removed from the tournament’s player list with no confirmation of her replacement in the draw.
The WTA Finals, which gets underway on 9 November in Indian Wells in the United States, is the final event on Svitolina’s 2026 calendar, but it remains to be seen if she will play at the season-ending event.
Svitolina qualified for the lucrative tournament for the first time since 2019 as she secured her ticket with her run to the quarter-finals of the Wuhan Open.
The former world No 3 won the WTA Finals in 2018, beating Sloane Stephens in the final while she finished runner-up to Ashleigh Barty the following year.
She is due to make her fourth appearance at the tournament with Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka, Mirra Andreeva, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff and Linda Noskova the other players who will feature with one place still up for grabs.
Monfils, meanwhile, retired earlier this month with the International Tennis Integrity Agency confirming that his name was added to the retired players’ list on 5 October.
However, Paris Masters organisers have confirmed that they have not completely shut the door on a possible Monfils appearance at the tournament, while the 40-year-old is also set to play in Stan Wawrinka’s farewell event in Switzerland.
