Rennae Stubbs has expressed her sadness at the news of Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils’ separation.
On Monday, Svitolina announced her marriage with Monfils was ending after more than five years, with the Ukrainian saying she needs to “find my way back to myself”.
In an emotional Instagram post, she wrote, “Gaël has loved me through my greatest joys and my darkest moments, and I have loved him with all my heart. Together, we built a beautiful life, and we were given the most precious gift of all, our daughter, Skai.
“Skai will always come first. Our marriage is ending, but our family is not. We will always be her parents, side by side, at every step of her life. Please know that there is no one to blame here. There are only two people who loved each other deeply and a story that is changing shape. We ask for your kindness and for the space we need to heal. Thank you for your love.”
This came weeks after Monfils quietly retired from tennis, despite previously planning to end his career at the Paris Masters in November. Reports have since suggested that the 32-year-old’s decision hit the Frenchman ‘like a ton of bricks’.
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Following a huge reaction on social media, which included a bit of a backlash against the world No 6, Svitolina moved to clarify her position, saying she “wasn’t truly happy” in addition to feeling the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war.
The former world No 3 wrote on Instagram on Tuesday, “At some point, I simply realised that I didn’t want to keep living a life where I wasn’t truly happy. And believe me, coming to this decision was anything but easy. I love and respect my husband very much. And I will always love and appreciate him for the person he is.
“That’s exactly why it was so important for me to be honest, both with him and with myself. It’s not always possible to explain everything behind such personal and difficult decisions in a single post. And honestly, some things are simply too personal to share publically.”
Now, former world No 1 women’s doubles player, Stubbs, has expressed her sympathy for both Svitolina and 40-year-old Monfils, who weren’t far away from winning the US Open Mixed Doubles title in late August.
The Australian stressed she won’t cast any aspersions about this sensitive matter and that this must have been very tough for the pair of them.
She said on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, “The one thing I will never do is cast a stone on any relationship, especially a public one. You don’t know what’s happening in a relationship or a marriage.
“You don’t know what the public persona they are putting out there and how they are struggling in their own lives. We have no idea. They obviously both love each other and came to this conclusion which was not easy, especially sharing a child.
“I send them both so much love. I like them both so much as people, I don’t know the ins and outs of the relationship, I only ever saw them happy together.
“But obviously this was important for Elina to put this out publically because I am sure every time she is out she will be asked, ‘Where’s Gael?’ and the same for Gael. It would be very, very hard for them. I am just sad about this.”
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