Tennis stars' new romance revealed at Australian Open
Tennis fans are in a frenzy after a new romance between two players came to light on Thursday.
Popular French star Gael Monfils was spotted watching Elina Svitolina during the Ukrainian’s clash with Viktoria Kuzmova on Rod Laver Arena.
Monfils was sitting in Svitolina’s box right next to her coaches, applauding every time she won a point.
Gael Monfils in the house for Svitolina's match 🙌#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/lkBCj4hDUd
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 17, 2019
Svitolina then appeared to confirm the relationship in her post-match interview on court.
“Well, everyone’s seen him now,” Svitolina said when asked if they were an item, blushing ever-so-slightly.
“Hopefully we’ll see him many more times in the future.”
Fans immediately erupted on social media.
Omg she really is dating Gael 😂 pic.twitter.com/Uiue4qrWiw
— Sascha Hardcourterer (@samstennis189) January 15, 2019
Monfils in Svitolina's box. So I guess it's official OFFICIAL now. #AusOpen
— Aina Mira (@KalaAina) January 17, 2019
Am I the last one to learn that Elina svitolina and Gael Monfils are a couple? #AusOpen #gaelmonfils #svitolina #Tennis #WTA #ATP
— Dee (@prettyandthing5) January 17, 2019
So, Monfils and Svitolina… is a thing? 🙂
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) January 17, 2019
Elina Svitolina & Gael Monfils, I think we have a new tennis couple https://t.co/od3d9NGWqs pic.twitter.com/E3pOq82mXz
— Women's Tennis Blog (@womenstennis) January 16, 2019
Svitolina and Monfils 💑 That's news to me! https://t.co/5T3znuaPLg
— Anne (@quadruplebagel) January 15, 2019
Its Gael Monfils in the players box of Elina Svitolina 😊#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/TQpoUW5iNl
— Elina Svitolina FP✨ (@SvitolinaNL) January 17, 2019
Monfils is Svitolina's box. I guess that means they are really together. Tennis equivalent of a PDA? @A_Gallivant
— The Spin (@bridgepea) January 17, 2019
I guess some people had an inkling about Svitolina and Monfils before the rest of us! https://t.co/ZulxdVqTTh
— Mike McIntyre (@protennisfan) January 17, 2019
Gael Monfils watching Svitolina from her box 👀. I guess it’s official that they’re dating, right? #AusOpen
— Erika (@erika89tc) January 17, 2019
Of course Monfils and Svitolina wouldn’t be the first players to start a relationship.
Dominic Thiem and Kristina Mladenovic are a couple, while Stan Wawrinka and Donna Vekic have been together for some time.
Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf are married, as are Italian players Flavia Pennetta and Fabio Fognini.
Monfils’ support clearly helped Svitolina, cruising into the third round with a 6-4, 6-1 win.
Can Svitolina win the Australian Open?
After an undefeated run to win the WTA Finals in Singapore late last year, the Ukrainian shapes as a real chance to claim her first major title at Melbourne Park.
“That definitely brought me lots of confidence and showed I could play at a really high level,” said the 24-year-old.
She needed just 67 minutes on Thursday to dispatch Kuzmova and advance to a third-round clash with Czech Kristyna Pliskova or China’s Zhang Shuai.
Meanwhile, No.29 seed Camila Giorgi from Italy took an even more straightforward path into the third round by belting Poland’s Iga Swiatek 6-2 6-0.
with AAP
