Daily Times

MELBOURNE: Flamboyant Frenchman Gael Monfils says his “caring” wife Elina Svitolina has been a stabilising influence and having her on tour has helped his game immensely. The tennis “power couple” tied the knot in Geneva in July just before the Tokyo Olympics and former world number six Monfils said they were able to lift each other when down or stressed before a match. “Tennis is our life but we have teams and everything. It’s more like in a down moment that it’s easier to understand the other person and when the other person wants to help it’s also easier to help to have the good word,” he said. “With me, she’s always very caring. “She knows that I need to feel good most of the time to deliver, she knows me quite well and she always have the good word when something comes up maybe outside of tennis or wherever to bring me back on my goal.”

Her influence has been evident with Monfils winning the lead-up Adelaide International title. The 17th seed also roared into the Australian Open third round on Wednesday, dropping just five games in a three-set thrashing of Alexander Bublik. Ukraine’s Svitolina, the women’s 15th seed, is also into the Melbourne Park third round after beating France’s Harmony Tan.

She said it was “important to have someone who understands what I’m going through” as a key bonus of having her husband in tour. “That’s really lucky in a way that we found love for each other and we do the same thing. We play tennis. We have same goals,” she said. “We’re just helping each other in the way that we can help each other to reach our best.”