An old social media post by Gael Monfils has gone viral following news of his divorce from Elina Svitolina.
The post dates back to May 26, when Monfils fired back at a fan who predicted an imminent end to his marriage with Svitolina.
“There’s no way she’s going to stay with him now he’s finished with tennis,” wrote the fan. “He’s as thick as a plank, she will move on, bookmark this!”
The comment came in response to reports that the 40-year-old tennis star may have played his final Roland Garros.
In response, Monfils wrote: “Slow down.”
Unsurprisingly, numerous fans dug up the old post that predicted the couple’s split.
Gael Monfils, Elina Svitolina Divorce
According to L’Equipe’s Franck Ramella, Monfils decided that 2026 was his final year in tennis only after Svitolina decided to end their marriage.
“This wasn’t the ending Gaël Monfils had hoped for, the one he’d have envisioned as a final, thunderous roar of emotion accompanied him to the very end at the Plenitude Arena,” wrote Ramella.
“But, in this turmoil born of an unexpected turn of events, it wasn’t a senseless, typical “Monfils ending” either, a career not lacking in such unpredictable moments. No.”
Monfils was scheduled to play both in Lyon and the Paris Masters before retiring, but he suffered a “psychological shock” when Svitolina broached the subject of a divorce.
“When Monfils learned the news, it hit him like a ton of bricks, and tennis, which he had often experienced as a kind of gentle madness, lost all meaning.
“He was no longer able to play,” added Ramella.
Elina Svitolina Clears the Air
In her initial statement released on Monday, Svitolina cited the emotional toll of the Russia-Ukraine war for her divorce. On Tuesday, she offered more context.
“It’s not always possible to explain everything behind such personal & difficult decisions in a single post. And honestly, some things are simply too personal to share publicly,” she wrote.
“I just want to clarity my previous post a little, because I realized that not
everyone, especially my international audience, fully understood what I was trying to say,” the four-time Grand Slam semifinalist continued.
“In that post, I shared only one of the reasons that influenced my decision and made me reflect on my life and my future. But the truth is, there’s so much more to it, and it was never just about one thing.
“When you’ve been living through the reality of war for more than 4.5 years, experiencing so many different situations, emotions, and difficult moments, you naturally start seeing life differently. Your perspective changes, your values and priorities shift, and you begin to understand what you truly want out of life.”
Svitolina added that she “simply realized” she didn’t want to keep living a life where she “wasn’t truly happy” and decided to end her marriage.
“And believe me, coming to this decision was anything but easy,” she added. The full statement can be read below.
Gael Monfils Viral Post Resurfaces After Elina Svitolina Divorce