“People want to put tennis first but Elina Svitolina’s a great mother first” – Gael Monfils heaps praise on wife after Miami Open 1R win
Gael Monfils recently spoke highly of his wife Elina Svitolina at Miami Open 2024, highlighting her role as a mother.
Monfils downed Serbia's Dusan Lajovic in a gripping first-round battle at the Miami Gardens on Thursday, March 21. The two players involved remained on serve for the majority of their 94-minute-long struggle on the court.
The opening set was decided in a tiebreaker after Monfils' serve remained unchallenged and Lajovic fended off two break points. In the tiebreak, however, Monfils edged the Serb out three mini-breaks against the latter's two.
The following set also remained in a deadlock until the Frenchman induced the first break of the match in the ninth game and secured a 7-6(5), 6-4 win.
After the match, Gael Monfils addressed the media and talked about his Ukrainian wife Elina Svitolina, who is nearing the first anniversary of her comeback after giving birth to daughter Skai.
"People want to put tennis first but I think she [Elina Svitolina] is a great mother first. This is the most important for me as her husband because of course we are a tennis couple but life is beyond our sport," Monfils said.
Svitolina notably stepped away from the court in March 2022 for a breather and announced her pregnancy a few weeks later. In October of that year, she and Monfils welcomed their daughter Skai into the world.
Svitolina returned to competitive tennis last year and took the field at the Charleston Open on April 3, 2023, against Yulia Putintseva. She faced defeat at the hands of Putintseva causing her ranking to plummet to World No. 1,344.
By the year-end, however, Svitolina fought her way back to the Top 25 of the WTA rankings. She won the Internationaux de Strasbourg, finished the French Open as a quarterfinalist, and made it as far as the semifinals at Wimbledon to finish 2023 as the World No. 25.
Further during his presser, Gael Monfils reflected on his wife's journey saying:
"I'm surprised how well she came back, how strong she is mentally and physically. It's just amazing."
Gael Monfils to take on Jordan Thompson, Elina Svitolina faces Naomi Osaka in Miami Open 2R
Gael Monfils will take on 33rd seed Jordan Thompson in the second round of the Miami Open 2024. As things stand, Monfils trails Thompson 1-0 in their head-to-head record.
On the women's side, Elina Svitolina will clash with another mother on the WTA tour in Naomi Osaka in her second-round match on March 23. She received a bye in the first round after having entered the main draw as the 15th seed.
Svitolina and Osaka have clashed on six occasions previously with their one-on-one record balanced at 3-3. The Miami clash will, however, be their first-ever postpartum as they haven't met on the court since January 2019.