Gael Monfils will become a father in October and the veteran can't wait for the change in his life that will affect everything he does.
Monfils last competed in Madrid when he lost to Novak Djokovic, and after that, he missed a couple of events due to a foot problem. He recently returned to the tennis courts at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Montreal, winning two matches, and speaking after those matches, Monfils touched upon a big change that will happen in a couple of months.
His wife, Elina Svitolina, is carrying their child, and she is due to give birth in October. Monfils can't wait for it to happen, as he's excited to welcome his baby girl.
"Yeah [I’m excited], it's gonna be a different life. I can’t wait to have my baby girl, I hope I’ll be a cool daddy. It's gonna be in a couple of weeks now. So I just have to focus now, daddy he has to win a couple more matches and be ready for October."
The recovery for Monfils took a long time and he used it to spend time with his wife. It's a challenging time for Svitolina, whose country is embroiled in a war while she is carrying a child.
Svitolina herself admitted it's been very stressful for her, and it's not hard to imagine why. For Monfils, it was lovely that he could support his wife-
"I had a lovely three months with my wife and it was quite challenging because it was very hot in Europe. For her, it was not easy. I was there with her and we had a good time. She almost made me forget about the tour a little bit."
"In a couple of years we're gonna be with kids and everything. Not too soon but, to be honest, I liked it. I really liked hanging around with my wife. It's not easy sometimes to go back on tour but I still love the game and I think I have a couple more years to enjoy it. It was not easy, first time it was not that easy to leave home."