Elina Svitolina has withdrawn from next week's WTA 500 event in Tokyo, just days after confirming her split from Gael Monfils. The world No. 6 also skipped another WTA 500 event in Ningbo this week, having already secured her place at the WTA Finals.
Qualification and Recent Form
This is the first time Svitolina has qualified for the season-ending championships since 2019, when she finished runner-up. She lifted the trophy at the event in 2018.
Svitolina became the seventh woman to qualify for the WTA Finals this year after a strong season, highlighted by a WTA 1000 title win in Rome and a runner-up finish in Dubai. She also won the WTA 250 title in Auckland in January. The Ukrainian is currently sitting at her highest ranking since 2021.
Personal Announcement
News of Svitolina's withdrawal from the Pan Pacific Open comes just days after she confirmed that she and Monfils were ending their marriage. Svitolina and former ATP No. 6 Monfils have been married for five years and have a four-year-old daughter together. They announced their split in an Instagram post earlier this week, which was shared on both of their accounts but written from Svitolina's perspective.
The 32-year-old cited the toll of the war in Ukraine as part of the reason for their split. “With time, I came to understand that I need to find my way back to myself and that I cannot do that within our marriage,” she wrote.
Monfils Retirement
The news also came after Monfils suddenly ended his tennis career. The Frenchman was due to play two more tournaments, the Lyon Open and the Paris Masters, but he notified the International Tennis Integrity Agency of his retirement on October 5.
In a separate, solo statement released this week, Svitolina said: “As some of you saw, Gael’s career ended abruptly after he made the decision to stop based on our situation. Unfortunately he had many accusations thrown at him and he didn’t deserve that, so we jointly released a statement.”
Other Withdrawals
Marta Kostyuk has also withdrawn from the Pan Pacific Open. The world No. 10 had an outside chance of qualifying for the WTA Finals but retired from her opening match in Ningbo earlier this week, meaning she could not make it to the year-end finale. Karolina Muchova got the final spot.
Iga Swiatek pulled out after bringing her 2026 season to an early end. The Pole was in tears as she played through a quad injury and lost in last week's Wuhan Open semi-finals. She also pulled out of the Ningbo Open and later confirmed: “I’ve decided to end my season here, which means I won’t be playing any more tournaments this year.”
