--- title: "\"War is only one of the reasons\": Elina Svitolina reveals true motives behind her divorce from Gael Monfils" description: "Elina Svitolina published a follow-up statement explaining that the war was only one of the reasons for her divorce from Gael Monfils. The tennis player discussed her personal transformation and called for understanding." date: 2026-10-20T08:03:58.871Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/svitolina-divorce-motives-monfils tags: [elina-svitolina, gael-monfils, tennis, divorce, ukraine] author: "Dmitriy Shatolov" publisher: "XAB.info" --- # "War is only one of the reasons": Elina Svitolina reveals true motives behind her divorce from Gael Monfils ![Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils hugging and kissing on a tennis court in front of stands](https://xab.info/media/2026/10/20/svitolina-motivy-razvoda-monfils/svitolina-motivy-razvoda-monfils-1.webp) ## Key Points - Svitolina stated that the war was only one of many reasons for her divorce from Monfils, not the only one - The tennis player spoke about a deep personal transformation after four and a half years in war conditions - Svitolina emphasized that she still loves and respects Monfils, and the decision was dictated by honesty - The Ukrainian athlete urged the press and fans to treat her and Monfils with understanding, pointing to unfair accusations against the Frenchman Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina has published a follow-up public appeal in which she detailed the motives behind her divorce from French tennis player Gael Monfils. The athlete stated that the international audience did not fully understand her previous post, interpreting the full-scale war in Ukraine as the sole factor behind the split. According to her, it was only one of many reasons, and the decision to part ways was the result of years of internal work and deep personal transformation. This was reported by Sport RBC.UA, citing the tennis player's personal Instagram account. ### War as a catalyst, not the sole reason Svitolina explicitly pointed out that her previous statement had been interpreted in a simplified way: many observers reduced the reasons for the divorce exclusively to the geopolitical context. The tennis player emphasized that after living for over four and a half years under the conditions of a full-scale war, she underwent a deep internal transformation that forced her to completely reevaluate her own values, priorities, and views on the future. The war, she said, was one of the factors that accelerated this process of realization, but not the only one nor solely decisive. ### "I no longer want to live a life where I wasn't truly happy" In the most emotional fragment of her appeal, Svitolina admitted that at a certain point she realized she no longer wanted to continue living a life in which she did not feel truly happy. "And believe me, making this decision was not easy at all," the tennis player wrote, emphasizing that the path to this realization was extremely difficult and required enormous internal effort. She chose not to disclose specific domestic or personal details, limiting herself to describing her general emotional state and the decision-making process. ### Honesty as the foundation of the decision Svitolina specifically noted that she still loves and respects Monfils as a person. Honesty — both toward him and toward herself — was the motive that prompted her to take the step toward divorce. She did not accuse her partner of any specific actions or shift the responsibility for the separation onto external circumstances. Her phrasing focuses on personal choice and the internal necessity to live in accordance with one's own values, rather than on conflict or incompatibility of characters. ### Defending Monfils from unfair accusations A separate emphasis in Svitolina's appeal was placed on the fate of Gael Monfils following his decision to prematurely end his sports career against the backdrop of family problems. According to the Ukrainian athlete, quite a few unfair accusations were directed at the Frenchman, which, in her opinion, do not reflect the real picture of events. She did not name specific episodes or individuals, but pointed out that the public reaction of part of the audience and press was disproportionate and unfair toward Monfils, who, like herself, is going through a difficult period in life. ### A call for kindness and understanding Concluding her appeal, Svitolina asked fans and press representatives to treat her and Monfils with kindness and understanding. She emphasized that both of them are going through a difficult stage in life and need a respectful attitude toward their personal space. The appeal serves as a public request for restraint in comments and the rejection of speculation regarding their divorce. At the time of publication by Sport RBC.UA, no public comment had been received from Monfils in response to Svitolina's renewed statement. ## Fact-Check & Sources - [Настоящие причины разрыва: Свитолина сделала новое откровенное заявление о Монфисе](https://sport.rbc.ua/ukr/tennis/spravzhni-prichini-rozrivu-svitolina-zrobila-1792483072.html) - Primary source: a retelling of Svitolina's public Instagram post. All quotes and facts in the article match the source text. No discrepancies with other sources were found. ## FAQ ### What reasons for the divorce did Svitolina name? Svitolina stated that the war was only one of many reasons. She named deep personal transformation, resulting from four and a half years of full-scale war, as the main factor that forced her to reevaluate her values and realize she was not truly happy in her previous life. ### What did Svitolina say about her feelings for Monfils? The tennis player emphasized that she still loves and respects Monfils as a person. She stated that the decision to divorce was dictated by honesty toward him and herself, rather than hostility or incompatibility. ### Why did Svitolina mention Monfils' premature career retirement? Svitolina noted that following Monfils' decision to prematurely end his sports career amid family problems, numerous unfair accusations were directed at him. She urged the press and fans to treat him with understanding. ### Did Monfils comment on Svitolina's renewed statement? At the time of publication by Sport RBC.UA, no public comment had been received from Gael Monfils in response to Svitolina's renewed statement.