"I will change it only after retirement": Svitolina clears up surname confusion

Elina Svitolina may have changed the surname field on her social media profiles after marrying Gaël Monfils, but that’s all for now says the world No. 6.

Going into her first match at the Tokyo Olympics, there was a bit of confusion when a handful of unofficial livescoring websites updated Svitolina to Monfils. The Ukrainian has since clarified she has no intent of making the switch at her current day job.

“I am going to play as Svitolina till the very end of my professional career and will change it only after retirement,” she was quoted by the website BTU. “I had numerous achievements and people know me as Svitolina.”

One reason? Family pride, according to the 26-year-old.

“My father would be upset if I changed the surname and played as Monfils,” laughed the 2018 WTA Finals champion. “I am proud to be Svitolina and my tennis career will always be connected with this surname.”

The newlyweds have endured a mixed experience in the Japanese capital. Monfils was among the seeded players sent packing in the first round when he was upset by Ilya Ivashka of Belarus. On Monday, Svitolina battled back to defeat Ajla Tomljanovic, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, in two hours and 35 minutes.

The No. 4 seed wasn’t thrilled with her performance, one that included 49 unforced errors and a first-serve percentage of 50, but nevertheless set a third-round clash with French Open semifinalist Maria Sakkari.

“To be fair, I started not bad, 2-0 up, but then everything went downhill for me. I was playing really bad, I was a bit slow and I didn’t feel my game at all,” she told ITFTennis.com.

Sakkari leads the pair's head-to-head series 2-1, with both the Greek's victories coming on hard courts (one outdoor, one indoor).

In doubles, Monfils won his opener with Jeremy Chardy but Svitolina dropped her first-rounder alongside Dayana Yastremska. The Frenchmen return Tuesday to face Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff and Alexander Zverev.