Tennis stars Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina made a huge announcement on social media on Sunday, May 15. The pair revealed that they are expecting their first child, a girl, this coming October.
Monfils and Svitolina broke the exciting news to the tennis world in tandem on Twitter at 6:01 a.m. Eastern Time, writing, "With a heart full of love and happiness, we are delighted to announce that we are expecting a baby girl in October."
As soon as they posted the baby news, fellow players congratulated the power couple. Tennis.com reported that Alize Cornet wrote "Félicitations" on her Twitter account while Daria Saville posted, "Omg!!! Imagine how cute she's gonna be."
Baby news comes almost a year after the couple's Swiss wedding
Borna Coric and James Blake offered congratulations to Monfils and Svitolina via tweets, while Pam Shriver wrote, "Amazing and joyful news to hear on a Sunday morning. Congratulations."
Monfils and Svitolina, who got married last July in Geneva, Switzerland, are both among the most accomplished players on their respective tours. Monfils is a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist, reaching the last four at Roland Garros in 2008 and the US Open in 2016. He has 11 career titles on the ATP Tour, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 6.
Svitolina is also a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist, reaching the final four at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2019. She has 16 career WTA titles, reaching a career-high ranking of No. 3. Svitolina is currently ranked 27th in the world but has been a fixture in the top 10 for most of the last decade. Since losing to Heather Watson at the Miami Open in March, she has not played a tennis match.
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Svitolina wants Russian and Belarusian tennis stars to oppose the war in Ukraine
The 27-year-old Ukrainian star has been one of the most outspoken voices regarding the tennis world's reaction to Russia's invasion of her home nation. After the defeat in Miami, Svitolina said that she would be taking a break from tennis after a difficult couple of months physically and emotionally.
Svitolina spoke about the issue in a recent interview, saying she wants Russian and Belarusian tennis players to say whether they oppose the war in Ukraine. Svitolina told the Associated Press, "For us, for Ukrainians, it's very important that they speak out, that they choose which side they take. We want to know, we want to feel safe about that."
Svitolina added that if the players don't say their opinion on this, they don't know if the Russian and Belarusian tennis stars support their government and if they support the army's action. This is important, according to Svitolina, as sport is a big propaganda machine for both Russia and Belarus.
Svitolina becomes the latest leading WTA player to step away from tennis mid-career to start a family, following the footsteps of Grand Slam champions Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka.
