Svitolina opens up on playing in the same tournaments as husband Monfils - "It's definitely not a distraction"
WTA
Regarded as the newest power couple in tennis, Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils have much reason to celebrate as they compete at their first US Open as a married couple.
The pair made their relationship public in 2019, eventually tying the knot in July 2021. Since getting married, their level of play seems to have risen with Svitolina winning the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics and Monfils rediscovering that form that saw him crack the Top 10 in the ATP Rankings.
Following her third round victory over Daria Kasatkina at the US Open, Svitolina (who goes by her maiden name on the WTA circuit) revealed what it was like to compete in the same tournaments as her husband.
"It’s amazing," she said. "Some people might say it can be a distraction. For us, it definitely is not a distraction. It’s a big motivation for both of us because we both are in the tournament and both very competitive."
The Ukrainian added that there is also a competitive edge to their relationship, with each trying to outdo the other in terms of result. However, she stated that it was a blessing to have someone share the same goals and offer support at that level of competition.
"We try to put everything that is possible into it, to both go far in the tournament, try to do better than the other one," revealed Svitolina. "I’m happy that we’re playing different days because then we can focus on one person, then the other one. It’s very nice to have someone next to you at the same sport and top level who understands and who supports you and shares the same goals."
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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