Elina Svitolina enthusiastically cheers on husband Gael Monfils from stands as Frenchman enters Stockholm Open SF

Gael Monfils qualified for his first ATP Tour semifinal in nearly two years at the Stockholm Open, and his wife Elina Svitolina was right by his side to support him.

The veteran Frenchman faced the No. 1 men's player from his country, Adrian Mannarino, in the quarterfinal in Sweden on Friday, October 20. The match was closely fought, with the break of serves at key junctures deciding the winner. Monfils took the first by breaking the No. 2 seed at 6-5 and the second via a tiebreaker to emerge victorious 7-5, 7-6(3).

Thanks to this win, Monfils will play his first semifinal of the ATP Tour since the 2022 Adelaide International, where he also lifted his last title on the tour. The 37-year-old had a special guest in the stands at the Kungliga Tennishallen in Stockholm to celebrate the milestone as Elina Svitolina cheered on Monfils during the quarterfinal clash.

In the early stages at the Stockholm Open, Monfils, currently ranked World No. 140, defeated Marton Fucsovics 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the first round and Filip Misolic 6-4, 6-3 in the second round. He will next face Laslo Djere of Serbia in the semifinal on Saturday, October 21.

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Elina Svitolina makes an emphatic return to WTA Tour, breaks into top 30

Elina Svitolina

Elina Svitolina had been out of action for over a year until April this year, firstly due to a back injury and then pregnancy. The Ukrainian and her husband Gael Monfils welcomed their daughter Skai on October 15, 2022. She returned to action six months later at the Charleston Open, where she was awarded a wildcard.

While the 29-year-old lost in the first round at the WTA 500 tournament, she showed some signs of her former self. Svitolina marked her stamp on the WTA Tour once again when she, to the surprise of many, lifted the WTA 250 Strasbourg Open. The former World No. 3 continued her excellent form at the French Open, where she reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since the 2021 US Open.

At the Wimbledon Championships, she did one better and reached her second Major semifinal in London. Notably, she defeated four former Grand Slam champions — Venus Williams, Sofia Kenin, Victoria Azarenka, and Iga Swiatek — before losing to eventual champion Marketa Vondrousova in the semifinal.

The World No. 25's last tournament of the year was the US Open, where she was seeded no. 26 and bettered Anna-Lena Friedsam and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova before losing to Jessica Pegula in the third round.