Svitolina and Monfils split after five years of marriage: the tennis player says there was no third party - the war in Ukraine pulled her away from herself

Elina Svitolina and Gaël Monfils, the couple fans considered the most beloved in tennis, have ended their marriage. They wed in 2021 and have a daughter, Skai, who is four. Svitolina called the announcement "the hardest thing I have ever had to share".

What sets this split apart from the standard celebrity statements is the reason. According to her, there is no third party in the story, and the love did not wear out. The reason is the war. The Ukrainian player, a bronze medallist at the Tokyo Olympics, admits she rarely spoke about how the war in her country was changing her from the inside.

Last year she stepped away from the court because, as she puts it, she was not in a good emotional state. The public saw the results. "What you didn't see were the sleepless nights," she wrote, describing doubts and gradually losing herself. The conclusion she reached is harsh: she has to find the way back to herself on her own, outside the marriage.

Monfils, who has since retired from professional tennis, stood by her through the hardest months and never let go of her hand, she says. The two fought for a long time to save the marriage. They did not manage it. "Gaël listened to me," Svitolina says, adding that he showed strength and dignity she will never forget. There has been no separate statement from Monfils so far.

This summer the two were still playing mixed doubles together at the US Open. A few months later, the message reads: "We will always be her parents, side by side." Svitolina is asking for understanding and space to heal - without looking for someone to blame.

The Balkans know that a war does not end when the sirens stop. It goes on living in people, even when they are thousands of kilometres from the front. How many marriages and friendships across Europe is the same war quietly tearing apart, with no cameras and no statements?