PARIS – Elina Svitolina announced on Oct 19 she is divorcing fellow tennis star Gael Monfils after five years of marriage.

Ukraine’s Svitolina, the world No. 6, married French player Monfils in July 2021 and they have a four-year-old daughter together.

“I need to find my way back to myself and I cannot do that within our marriage,” the 32-year-old Svitolina said in a social media post.

“It is the hardest truth I have ever had to face and the hardest thing I have ever had to tell the person I love.”

Monfils, 40, retired from tennis earlier in October , despite having been expected to make farewell appearances in Lyon and at the Paris Masters later this month.

He had been given a wildcard for this week’s ATP 250 tournament in Lyon, but organisers said he had withdrawn for personal reasons. AFP