How Gael Monfils’ Final US Open Has Become a Love Story With Wife Elina Svitolina

Gael Monfils came to New York knowing this would be his final US Open. What he probably could not have scripted was that one of the most memorable chapters of his farewell would be written alongside his wife.

Monfils and Elina Svitolina are through to the semifinals of the 2026 US Open Mixed Doubles Championship after defeating doubles world No. 1s Katerina Siniakova and Henry Patten 5-4(6), 4-5(3), 10-8 at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday.

The result alone would have been significant. The circumstances make it considerably more meaningful.

Monfils, 39, plans to retire at the end of the 2026 season. Svitolina is not watching his farewell from the stands or following it from another tournament. She is standing beside him on court, returning serves, creating points and helping him extend one of the final Grand Slam appearances of a career that has lasted more than two decades.

For most of their marriage, they have competed as individual professionals whose careers happened to run alongside each other. At Monfils’ final US Open, they suddenly have an opportunity to chase something together.

This is no ceremonial farewell for Gael Monfils

Farewell seasons can become nostalgic very quickly.

Every tournament wants to acknowledge the departing player. Crowds arrive knowing that a familiar face may never return. Results can become secondary to applause, tributes and memories accumulated over a long career.

Monfils has already experienced that atmosphere during the North American hard-court swing. The Sports Encounter followed his emotional final appearances in Canada when Monfils began his last National Bank Open with a victory, and later in Ohio when his final Cincinnati Open ended in a three-set defeat.

New York has been different already.

The mixed doubles run is not surviving on sentiment. Svitolina and Monfils have beaten two serious teams in one day, including a quarterfinal against Siniakova and Patten, players who entered the match as the respective doubles world No. 1s on the women’s and men’s tours.

The official US Open match report confirmed that the husband-and-wife team had to survive two set points on Monfils’ serve in the opening set before eventually winning it in a tiebreak.

Siniakova and Patten responded by taking the second set, forcing the match into a deciding 10-point tiebreak. There was no farewell script protecting Monfils there. Every loose return, missed volley and second serve carried the possibility that the mixed doubles portion of his final US Open would end immediately.

Svitolina and Monfils held their nerve and won 10-8.

Elina Svitolina is not simply supporting her husband from the sidelines

The human appeal of this story is obvious, but it would be unfair to frame Svitolina as a supporting character in her husband’s farewell.

She is an elite player with her own career, her own ambitions and her own reasons for wanting to win in New York. The WTA currently lists Svitolina among the leading players on the women’s tour, and her 2026 season has already included deep runs against some of the strongest players in the game.

Her role in this mixed doubles partnership is competitive rather than ceremonial.

Svitolina produced a crucial forehand winner during the quarterfinal against Siniakova and Patten, and throughout the match she had to absorb the pace and movement patterns of two players whose careers have been built around doubles expertise.

Monfils provided some of the spectacular movement that has defined his career. Svitolina supplied control, discipline and the ability to keep points alive when the match tightened.

After the opening-set turnaround, Svitolina described one of her husband’s defensive recoveries simply: “He made some magic.”

That quote works because anyone who has watched Monfils for the last two decades understands exactly what she meant.

His career has always contained moments that look impossible until he produces them. At his final US Open, one of the people appreciating those moments from the closest possible position is his wife.

They spent years playing separate careers. Now they are finally chasing the same trophy

Svitolina and Monfils married on July 16, 2021. Their daughter, Skai, was born on October 15, 2022, according to Svitolina’s official WTA biography.

Professional tennis does not make family logistics simple.

The men’s and women’s tours often overlap geographically, but careers still require individual coaches, training plans, recovery schedules, rankings objectives and tournament decisions. Even when couples travel together, they remain responsible for their own matches and seasons.

That is what makes this US Open run unusual.

Svitolina and Monfils had never played a competitive doubles match together before Tuesday. Their first one came against two players who had been part of TSE’s North American hard-court coverage, Alexandra Eala and Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The married pair won 4-1, 4-1 in Louis Armstrong Stadium.

They needed only 15 minutes to take the opening set. After Eala and Auger-Aliassime held the first game, Svitolina and Monfils quickly found a rhythm that suggested their familiarity away from competition could translate into something useful on court.

The quarterfinal proved much more demanding.

That contrast matters. Beating Eala and Auger-Aliassime showed the partnership could work. Surviving Siniakova and Patten showed it could withstand pressure.

The wife and husband dynamic became part of the match itself

There was an easy temptation for this partnership to become a novelty act inside the US Open’s revamped mixed doubles event.

The tournament is full of high-profile combinations. Serena Williams played alongside Carlos Alcaraz. Aryna Sabalenka partnered Novak Djokovic. Taylor Townsend teamed with Alexander Zverev, while Belinda Bencic joined Flavio Cobolli.

The Sports Encounter has followed the format closely, from the original announcement that Djokovic and Sabalenka would form one of the tournament’s headline teams to Serena’s highly anticipated return alongside Alcaraz.

That Serena-Alcaraz story has now reached its conclusion after Bencic and Cobolli ended their run in the quarterfinals.

Svitolina and Monfils have given the event something different.

Their chemistry existed long before anyone drew up a doubles formation.

They know how the other responds to pressure. They understand the physical sacrifices each career has required. They have seen each other win, lose, recover from injuries, manage family responsibilities and continue competing at the highest level.

Those things do not automatically create a good doubles team. They can, however, make communication easier when a match begins to tighten.

There was little evidence of panic when Siniakova and Patten forced the deciding tiebreak. The couple kept playing, survived the pressure and eventually drew the final error that sent them into the semifinals.

Svitolina gets to share one of the final chapters of Monfils’ career from the court

This is where the story moves beyond a tournament result.

Svitolina cannot stop the calendar.

Monfils has decided that 2026 will be his final season. Every tournament now carries an ending somewhere inside it, even if nobody knows exactly which match will become his last at each venue.

She cannot extend that career indefinitely.

In New York, however, she can help extend this farewell for another match.

That is what happened Tuesday.

Monfils could have exited the mixed doubles championship in the opening round. Instead, his wife helped him reach Arthur Ashe Stadium. Once there, the pair eliminated the top doubles players in the world and earned another night together on the tournament’s largest stage.

There is no need to manufacture emotion around that.

The circumstances already provide enough.

Monfils’ farewell season has been building toward New York

The Frenchman’s retirement context has followed him through much of the summer.

Cincinnati awarded him a wild card as part of a group of veteran players receiving another major American stage, a development The Sports Encounter examined in its report on the Cincinnati Open’s farewell-season wild cards.

His final appearance there ended against Rinky Hijikata despite Monfils winning the opening set 6-2. The result was another reminder that farewell seasons do not guarantee the endings fans want.

The US Open singles main draw will provide Monfils with another opportunity after he received a wildcard into the tournament. The Sports Encounter’s complete US Open 2026 preview tracks the wider tournament picture as New York prepares for the main singles competition.

Before that begins, mixed doubles has unexpectedly created one of the most personal chapters of Monfils’ final year.

The format is helping create moments conventional doubles rarely gets

The 2026 US Open Mixed Doubles Championship uses abbreviated scoring through the semifinals.

Sets run to four games, no-ad scoring is used, a tiebreak is played at 4-4 and a 10-point match tiebreak replaces the third set. The final moves to conventional six-game sets while retaining no-ad scoring and the deciding 10-point tiebreak.

The shorter structure places pressure on teams immediately.

A poor service game can decide half a set. Losing concentration for several points can create a deficit that conventional doubles might allow time to repair.

For a first-time competitive partnership such as Svitolina and Monfils, that makes their progress more impressive.

They had no tour-level doubles history together entering Tuesday. By the end of the day, they had won two matches and eliminated the strongest specialist combination they had faced.

The revamped event has generated debate because the US Open deliberately placed star singles players at the center of mixed doubles. Whatever one’s view of the format, it has created combinations that conventional scheduling would rarely produce.

A married couple reaching the semifinals during the husband’s final US Open is one of them.

Bencic and Cobolli now stand between them and the final

The next challenge may be every bit as difficult.

Svitolina and Monfils are set to face Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli in Wednesday’s semifinal at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Bencic and Cobolli have already removed Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz from the tournament, winning their quarterfinal 5-4(4), 4-1. Their ability to handle the atmosphere surrounding Serena’s return showed that they are unlikely to be overwhelmed by another emotionally charged opponent.

The US Open has scheduled the mixed doubles semifinals and final for Wednesday evening, with play beginning at Arthur Ashe Stadium at 7 p.m. Eastern Time. The winning semifinalists will therefore have little time between reaching the championship match and playing for the title.

For Svitolina and Monfils, victory would mean a first Grand Slam mixed doubles final together in the first competitive doubles tournament they have ever played as a team.

A US Open love story that still has to be won on court

There is a reason this story resonates beyond the novelty of seeing a married couple play doubles.

Monfils’ career is ending. Svitolina’s is still moving forward. Their daughter is growing up while both parents remain professional athletes. For years, their relationship has existed around the demands of separate careers.

New York has briefly changed that arrangement.

The person Monfils normally turns toward after a match is standing beside him during it.

The woman who has supported his career away from the baseline is now helping him win points on it.

Svitolina is pursuing her own championship at the same time, which is what keeps the story from becoming sentimental theater. She has something to gain too.

That balance is what makes their run compelling.

This is Monfils’ farewell, but it is their tournament.

The Sports Encounter will continue following their run alongside the wider tournament through our Tennis Hub, including mixed doubles, qualifying and the main singles draws beginning August 30.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina married?

Yes. Monfils and Svitolina married on July 16, 2021. They have a daughter, Skai, who was born in October 2022.

Is the 2026 US Open Gael Monfils’ final US Open?

Yes. Monfils is playing his final season on the professional tour and plans to retire at the end of 2026, making this his last US Open.

Have Monfils and Svitolina played doubles together before?

The 2026 US Open is their first competitive doubles tournament together. They began the event by defeating Alexandra Eala and Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-1, 4-1.

Who did Svitolina and Monfils beat in the US Open quarterfinals?

They defeated Katerina Siniakova and Henry Patten 5-4(6), 4-5(3), 10-8 at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Siniakova and Patten entered the match as the respective women’s and men’s doubles world No. 1s.

Who will Svitolina and Monfils play in the semifinal?

They are scheduled to face Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli, who eliminated Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals.

When are the 2026 US Open mixed doubles semifinals?

The semifinals are scheduled for Wednesday, August 26 at Arthur Ashe Stadium, with the evening session beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern Time.

Could Monfils and Svitolina win their first Grand Slam title together?

Yes. They are two victories away from the 2026 US Open mixed doubles championship. A semifinal victory would send them into their first Grand Slam final as a team.

Official sources: Match results, scoring format and tournament scheduling were verified through the official US Open Mixed Doubles Championship page and the tournament’s official Svitolina-Monfils quarterfinal report. Family details were checked against Svitolina’s official WTA profile.