In the middle of her match at the U.S. Open on Thursday, Elina Svitolina stopped the umpire with a unique request.
She wanted to know if her husband, tennis star Gael Monfils, had begun her match at the Grandstand against Andrey Rublev.
Svitolina, the No. 26 seed from Ukraine, was in the middle of a battle with Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who had taken the first set off of her when she asked the chair umpire about her partner.
The Ukrainian went on to win her match 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 against Pavlyuchenkova at Louis Armstrong Stadium, and she told the crowd afterward that she was just looking for a little extra boost.
“I was just trying to get a little motivation from him. I know he’s playing out there,” Svitolina said.
“Just [to] change my head a little bit, I was not playing my best, I had to bring different energy “I was just trying to get a little motivation from him…I was just thinking about him a little bit.”
Though Svitolina pulled away with a win, her husband did not have the same luck, as he was eliminated after a four-set loss.
Svitolina and Monfils, a French player who is ranked No. 162 but reached as high as No. 6 in 2016, have been married since 2021.
They share a daughter together named Skaï.
The French Open earlier this year was the couple’s first time playing in a tournament at the same time since Skai arrived.
“First tournament for us where we are both playing at the same tournament and Skaï is here with us in Paris as well. It’s really, really special,” Svitolina told CNN in May.
“So far everything is going well, and we really enjoy our time off the court together, and on the court as well, we try to be focused and play as good as we can.
“Of course, it’s really important to have a team for Skaï, who takes care of her, so then we can focus on tennis. And especially at such a big event with lots of pressure and lots of things going on, it’s important that your mind is calm about your child and then you have 100% head[ing] into the tennis.”
Svitolina, who took time off the WTA tour in 2022 for the birth of her daughter, roared back on the scene in 2023 with a run to the Wimbledon semifinals.
During that run, Monfils stayed home to take care of his daughter and did not compete in London as he dealt with a wrist injury.
In August at the National Bank Open, Monfils was asked if he had ever played mixed doubles with his wife.
“You know, why not to play once a mixed double? Why not?” he told tennis journalist Mike McIntyre. “But the thing is you know, it’s tough for me to play singles and doubles. But I feel like when it will be the end, I will try to double up. And hopefully it’s not next year.”
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